What lies ahead
by Holly Velvet
Summary: this is a story about a girl who left her home town to study abroad.she then meets new people and new encounters. she is new to this place and now she has to learn how to cope. R & R people, btw it's a Squinoa story i suck at summaries SWEAR!
1. What lies ahead

Author's note: Hey guys this is my first time to write a story :) i would really appreciate it if you were to R & R my work. I've been a member here for almost a year now and this is the first time i was able to find time to write. :) Anyway i give you my first chapter !:)

_Disclaimer: i do not own Square Enix nor do i own any other developers because if i did i won't be writing this i would be making this a video game :D_

Chapter 1

_**What Lies Ahead**_

"Everything is set for you, sweetie" Julia said to her fidgeting daughter, "there is no need to fret."

Julia Heartilly knew her daughter was nothing short of perfect but she still thought of her as a little girl who couldn't possibly make up her mind if she wants a lollipop or a chewing gum. She always wanted to be there for Rinoa but she also needed to accept that she was growing up. Since now her baby is graduating she still can't figure out if she could let her choose her own college.

"I know mom but then I can't help but feel a bit uneasy by this." replied Rinoa. "I still don't know if Esthar is the place for me."

Rinoa and her mom are rich and quite prominent in their city. They inherited a large sum of money from Rinoa's grandparents and also got some from Jack Caraway's support funds for Rinoa. Her mom is a divorcee and they lived together in a huge estate which was given to them by the state in her parents' divorce trial.

"Nonsense!" Julia whispered to her ear, "You are the only person thinking that and we all know, you know, that that is not true."

"Come now, and finish dressing up, we don't want to be late." Julia said while beckoning her daughter to the dresser.

They went into Rinoa's monstrous dresser. Hundreds of beautifully made dresses and clothes hung in her closet. They were color coded and they all had matching shoes underneath every dress. There were also jewerly placed on a safe with a code-lock. It was much like a princess's dresser rather than a high school student's.

After much bussling and frantic searching they finally picked the suitable dress for Rinoa to wear underneath her toga.

"There! Finally a perfectly elegant yet simple dress." Julia said with a sense of accomplishment. A simple light blue, tube dress with sequins sewn on the bottom part, which suited the dark blue toga of the Deling City High, was chosen for Rinoa to wear. She was nothing short of a princess. "What do you think, sweetie?"

"Its perfect mom." she replied while trying to wear the light blue heels with diamond studded bands.

"Those shoes look good on you!" Julia said while cleaning up, or rather tidying up the whole closet. "I knew that I bought them just for you and not really for me."

Rinoa laughed.

"There I am now ready to go." she said while making a few more adjustments and checking if her hair was perfect.

"Alright then." giving her daughter one big hug and a kiss. "Let's go"

--

As Rinoa got out of the car she immediately felt the winds of the warm march day, heard the chimes and bells of freedom and the beating of the drums that was the marching band.

Yes, all of these were signs. Signs of Rinoa Heartilly's leaving the high school world and saying hello to her college life.

She was finally going to break free from the crazy projects and the daunting teachers, from all the pressures of being a senior class president and the head of the cheerleading squad, and from being with her ex boyfriend who is nothing short of annoying.

She was leaving high school with no strings attached.

"Rinny-poo!!"

"Hey Helga," replied Rinoa while trying to break free from her best friend's death hold. Helga Amethyst was probably the perkiest girl in Deling High. She's a member of the cheering squad and the acting crew as well. She was also the most confident person Rinoa has ever met. She came up and talked to Rinoa about Barbie TM back when they were kids without even asking for her name first. It was a funny thing for Rinoa to be treated as a normal kid so she befriended her. Little did she know that she'd be stuck with this girl from pre-K up to this very moment of their high school graduation. "It's like you haven't seen me for years, when in fact you only haven't seen me for 3 hours!"

"Rinoa, sweetie, I'll be heading in to the gym now, make sure you don't ruin your dress, and hello to you Helga." and she gave Helga a warm smile.

"Hello Mrs. Heartilly! My parents are waiting for you inside. "finally letting Rinoa loose.

"Thank you, hunny. Congratulations too. "said Rinoa's mom while turning to enter the crowded gym.

"Say Helga, why not we go inside now?" Rinoa called out while cocking an eyebrow. She turned to the direction of the gym, when she saw the nightmare of her whole last four months in Deling High. It was big, brawny and good looking, but it somehow needed to refer to a 1st grade student for pick up lines that don't reek. Sadly enough for her, it was coming straight for her, with a big cocky smile and a smug expression on its face.

"Hello Rinoa."

"Hello to you too, Derick." she replied nonchalantly.

"Aww babe, don't be so cold. Not when you see that the summer heat is on."

"Well I see that even on our last day here you still haven't changed a bit." she replied with utter disgust.

Derick Mendez, the biggest hunk that Deling High ever admitted. He came to this school wearing his best smile that could've melted any woman's heart. He was the captain of the soccer team in a short while after he came to school. He only studied here for a total of 2 years and was Rinoa's boyfriend for a year and a half. He had always had a crush on Rinoa and can't seem to get over the fact that they were already broken up. He was also the biggest ass that ever walked in the school for he was caught by the whole cheerleading squad, Rinoa included, banging the president of the environmental committee, who also happened to be the biggest slut in school.

"So you still think I am as hot as when I first walked into Deling High?" he replied in a booming voice, that everyone on the back part of the gym looked at them.

But despite his cocky and ass-wipe attitude Rinoa only gave him a big fat..." No." and walked away to her seat to await the ceremony's start.

--

Once it ended Helga came to talk to her with tears in her eyes. "Rinny-poo! I will miss you soooooooo much!!" she cried.

"Me too Hels, me too." and Rinoa hugged her now sobbing bestfriend. "Tell you what Miss-Best-In-Conduct, I'll come visit you in Dollet okay? It'll only be a 24hr flight nothing wrong with that now?" and she gave a hearty laugh.

"Stop mocking me! Can't you see that this is my moment? hahaha"

"I'm sorry but I can't stay for the after party my flight leaves early tomorrow, and I don't want to catch a later flight." she added seeing the puppy dog look on Helga's face. She gave her one last hug and promised that she'll always be in touch. That is when tears started streaming down her face, and as she walked to her waiting mom she decided she better be strong after this.

--

"Boy, that was eventful huh Rinny?" her mom asked her on their way back home. "Who would've thought Helga got the best in conduct award."

"Yeah, and I still wish I could've stayed for the after party." she replied with a pout and a scoff.

"Don't be silly. You need to be up bright and early tomorrow for you'll be going to Esthar and spend the rest of the vacation there."

"I want to enjoy my last summer here with my friends mom!"

"But sweetie everything has been arranged and the tickets are already here. There is no turnng back now, you hear me?" said her mother so sternly that it meant that their dispute has ended.

Rinoa went straight to bed without saying goodnight to her mom. She lied on her bed thinking what will happen to her in Esthar? Will it be worse that Galbadia? Or will it be as promising as a future in Dollet? She didn't know, she wanted to be certain that she made the right choice of going to Esthar. She would have to start from scratch there, make new friends, be competitive in school, and hopefully find a new boyfriend. She pondered endlessly through the night; she cannot sleep because of so many things floating around her head. Sleep only took over her before midnight.

* * *

A/N: So what did you think? The next chapter is just around the corner :) it'll be out in a few days (or even hours depending on my mood) :) R&R please and thank you :)


	2. The Trip

Author's note: _I told you it'll only take me a couple of hours before I post another chapter.  don't worry I don't rush my chapters I just have a lot of free time and an urge to keep on writing. So now, without further adieu I give to you Chapter two!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own SquareEnix so don't ask me if I do _

-- Chapter two --

**_The Trip_**

"RISE AND SHINE MS. RINOA ANTOINETTE HEARTILLY!!"

Rinoa groaned as she heard her mom's booming voice yelling out her full name in the middle of the night. She turned on her bed only to see that it was only 4am. Covering her face with the comforter she tried, desperately to fall back into sleep, it wasn't that hard considering that it was a really, really comfy underneath her blanket.

"I SAID GET UP YOUNG LADY!" her mom yelled while pulling her comforter away, exposing her to the chilly dawn's breeze.

"Alright, alright! I'm up!" Rinoa said while scratching her head and trying to figure out where left and right is. "Why do I have to get up so early mom?? The plane won't leave until 8am! I could still sleep in for a couple more hours. "

"No! You will get up now, because knowing you, sweetie, you'd take an hour and a half to get ready. "Her mom retaliated while finishing folding Rinoa's comforter.

Rinoa grudgingly walked, rather stormed to her bathroom with a towel and an angered look. She didn't like rising before the sun nor did she like that she was leaving her hometown in a few hours. She was earnestly thinking about rushing the bathing and the preparations so she could snatch a few moments on her favorite hang out in the city, the beach. Technically, it wasn't "in" the city anymore, but it is still considered part of Deling, and it was also the quietest part of the city. Angelo would be traveling with her so she was secured in the pet porter, thus she won't be able to take Angelo to the beach with her.

She finished bathing, dressing, and putting on make up in 30 short minutes. She bade her mom a short goodbye, and promised to meet her in the airport in an hour, which would mean she'd be on time. She then rushed to the doorway, wearing a black tee and a dark blue sweats. She grabbed her keys and started up her car's engine.

She was rushing for no reason, she only wanted to reminisce and hug the Deling sands for one last time before she left for Esthar. She may also have wanted to calm herself, and relax before the stress of the big city. She lied down on the pure white shores of the beach awaiting nothing but the sunrise to bathe her with the warmth of Deling, the warmth she grew to love.

"I would miss this so much," she sighed. "But I guess it can't be helped I need to go."

Not much to her surprise she found that only the calming sound of the waves replied to her. She found it comforting and somewhat friendly. She just lied there with nothing in mind but the sounds of the waves and the nearing sunrise. Rinoa fell almost asleep when she realized that she needed to be in the airport in a matter of minutes. She rushed to her car and revved up the engine.

--

"Oh please! Please don't be late." her mom worriedly ranted to herself.

Then suddenly she heard the screeching of tires and a voice calling out to her.

"Rinoa Antoinette Heartilly, I thought you ran away!"

"Well, if I were to runaway don't you think I need Angelo and my clothes?" she mocked her mom, while panting.

"Never mind." she said as she beckoned Rinoa in the airport for check-in. "Sweetie, I am not able to go with you to Esthar."

"Yeah I know," Rinoa replied while removing her sneakers. "I'll be checking in alone and I would be traveling alone."

"Don't worry though, your aunt Cecile would be there to take care of you before the term starts."

"Argh, what a joy." Rinoa replied sarcastically.

"Now sweetie, call me immediately after you land. I got you the jet plane which would mean you'd be there earlier than you think you would." her mom said while giving Rinoa the biggest hug. "I will miss you so much sweetie, keep in touch okay? Don't forget to come home for your breaks okay?"

"Okay mom," she replied while trying to contain the sniffles.

And with that she waved goodbye to her mom and went inside.

Inside there were a lot of people, considering that it was still very early a lot of people were busy. Rinoa found a spot near a column and decided to sit there and wait a couple more minutes before the boarding call. She sucked up the entire Deling aura and the ambience, until she was finally called up to board the next flight to Esthar.

--

"Seat 1-F... seat 1-F..." Rinoa muttered to herself while trying to find her seat. "Whew! Thank Hyne mom got me a window seat I don't think I could last 8hours without seeing anything."

"Hahaha you like the window seat too huh?"

Rinoa jumped at the sudden comment. She didn't quite expect a comment for what she said because she merely whispered it to herself. So she thought that this creep might just be an eavesdropper and decided not to reply to his comment.

"Look miss, I didn't mean to frighten you in anyway I just wanted to make a friend of the person I will be sitting next to for the next 8hours." the man said with a smile on his face, but Rinoa wasn't paying attention anymore, she was staring at the baggage carrier and thinking if Angelo was alright.

_Okaay as if I am buying that, but know what this guy is kinda cute. Maybe, I should befriend him._

"Oh, no problem. I was worried about my dog and you kinda startled Me." she said with the most heart melting smile.

"Forgive me for being rude, my name is Squall and I am from Esthar."

"Oh so you're not a local." she replied.

"I just went here to spend my vacation, even though i didn't attend my graduation..."

"Really how come?" Rinoa interjected.

"Uhm, because I just found the ceremony boring. I was here for the past week for all you know, Miss...?"

"Oops, where are my manners... Miss Heartlilly, Rinoa Heartilly."

"I see, I see..." he replied, obviously lost in thought. "Hey Squall mind if I ask why Deling?"

He only replied a raised eyebrow. Rinoa found this annoying and quickly answered, "Why spend your free time here? Why not in Dollet?"

"Well, do you think if I spent it in Dollet I'd be able to meet up with you here?"

_okay I have to admit this guy has a knack for cracking pick up lines... he's one interesting fellow._

The flight to Esthar wasn't as bad as Rinoa thought, well thanks to Squall she didn't get bored. They quickly became friends and Squall decided to take her to her aunt's place.

"No, I insist of taking you there. You don't know what troubles are there in Esthar."

"No, no there is no need! My aunt will pick me up in the airport" okay that was a lie. But I can't let him take me there... it's too much.

"Nah ah... I know you are lying and pick up or not I will take you to your aunt. " he said sternly. "I don't want you to get hurt, I mean a hottie like you would be like a carcass for a lion."

_okay he is way over the limit! This guy is way too good with his lines!_

Rinoa just nodded and decided it was for the better. Her cheeks flushed as he stared into her eyes trying to look for a lie that was there. She quickly looked away and changed the subject. They continued with the friendly banter until sunset, and their arrival at Esthar.

"Oooohh... Esthar really doesn't sleep huh?" she asked while marveling at the busy city.

"Yep, much like Deling only Esthar is way bigger." Squall replied while looking at the city too.

"Ladies and gentlemen we have arrived at our destination. Welcome to Esthar and we hope you enjoyed your flight with Galbadia Airlines. Thank you and don't hesitate to ask our attendants for assitance.

"Oh, I need to go now I have to get my dog." Rinoa said while trying to get out of her seat.

"Sure I'll help you out with your things, since this is the only thing I brought with me." he showed her a gym bag which was considerably small.

The airport was huge, much bigger than the one in Deling. Rinoa thought she'd get lost in this place if not for Squall. There were a lot of people, and it was giving Rinoa a whopping headache just trying to concentrate. Finally they got Angelo and the rest of Rinoa's things and were now headed for the exit.

"Thanks Squall," Rinoa muttered as she tried to put Angelo in the back seat of the taxi. "If it weren't for you I would've been chopped liver."

"Haha it's no problem. I'm used to traveling a lot so I'm used to the people in the airport. "Squall replied as he was trying to put all the suitcases into the compartment. "Whew, you sure packed a lot of stuff."

"Well I have to, I won't be coming back to Deling in a year so i need a change of clothes now don't I?" she replied while trying to suppress a smile.

"Ha Ha Ha, very funny Ms. Heartilly. Now exactly are you headed? I for one know this place like the back of my hand so I've no need of someone to take me where I want to be. As for you," he stared intently to her hazel eyes. "Hmm, I never noticed you had hazel eyes,"

_I for one can't help but notice your steel blue ones._

"Well anyways, as for you, you need a guide! Just be thankful I am here." he added.

"Yeah sure, but I am not forcing you to do this so I don't exactly owe you one." she replied turning away from Squall. She noticed that Esthar was pretty dry, and it was busy. She's only been in Esthar once I her life time and that was when her aunt, Cecile got sick and no one was there to take care of her. She can vaguely remember Esthar and the sights of it. She had made friends here but stupid her forgot to get there contact details and now she has no one but this stranger she calls Squall.

Squall is a gentleman no doubt about that but he is too mysterious. Rinoa can't quite grasp what he is always thinking about, and the thing about him skipping his own graduation, now that is stupid. Although she never really voiced out that she found that stupid she was still thinking deeply about it. "Maybe I should just drop it." she said unexpectedly aloud. She was shocked and so was Squall.

"Huh?" He asked.

"Oh! It's nothing." Rinoa replied defensively. "I was just thinking out loud, nothing to do with you." and she gave him a goofy smile.

_Awkward silence_

"Tell me Rinoa," he said while looking out the window, "how old are you?"

"Uhm," Rinoa was shocked by this sudden question.

_why the hell is he suddenly interested in my age??_

"I'm 17 and won't be turning into 18 until another year." she said proudly.

"Oh an advanced child, correct?" he looked at her earnestly. "Me too. Although I am about to be 18 next August," then he lowered his voice into almost a whisper. "Then the real FUN begins."

"You don't seem excited with becoming of age." she looked away from him to stare at the sky, "I know the feeling..."

_another awkward silence! Speak Rin, speak!_

"So are you going to attend college too?" Rinoa asked aloud.

"..."

"Okay, I can take a hint." she replied sounding a bit disappointed.

"Oh, I'm sorry I was just thinking...what was it you were saying?"

"Oh it's noth-- OH! There's my aunt's house right there. "She said while pointing at the only brick house that stood in the middle of two enormous sky scrapers. It was a duplex with a blue roof and red bricks. It was pretty homey and pretty much like a Balamb style house.

"Oh you're gonna live there?" Squall asked as he paid for the fare. "It sure is weird to see such a house in a big city."

"Well my aunt just can't get the Galbadian out of her." pointing to the extreme blue and red combination of the house. "But, she's harmless, she means nothing agaisnt the Estharians but she just loves the color of Galbadia."

"I wasn't gonna say anything," Squall laughed. "You're too defensive, well aren't you gonna ring the bell?"

Rinoa pouted her lips at Squall and stuck her tongue out like a kid then pushed the doorbell.

_DING DONG_

"Well now that shook my nerves." Rinoa said while trying to soothe her now shaken head. "This will hurt later on."

"Yeah tell me abo--" but he never got to finish his sentence for Rinoa's aunt, a thin, bony, and stern looking woman, came out to say: "Tell me about what, mister..?"

"Squall, Ma'am." he replied while standing up and offering a hand for her to shake. She shook his hand and asked, "Are you my niece's boy friend?" she then smiled at him warmly.

"No Ma'am, I'm just her friend."

"Oh, and I thought my niece found a more decent boyfriend." she replied with a mocking face to Rinoa.

"Ugh auntie! You didn't have to embarrass me you know, I'm pretty good with getting myself embarrassed on my own!" Rinoa yelled while trying to hide the biggest blush she ever got.

"Hahaha hunny, it's fine, isn't it Squall?" she then raised an eyebrow to him just like she was eyeing him and telling him she knew him from somewhere. "Come, come... i was just about to serve dinner, why not stay?"

"Uhm, I don't think I should Ma'am." he replied sounding a bit embarrassed. "I need to be somewhere too, maybe some other time, and I am sorry to reject."

"No problem about that Squall," said Rinoa, finally getting over the damn blush her aunt gave her. "Why not come back tomorrow for dinner?"

"But I don't exactly know where this is..."

"And I thought you knew Esthar like the back of your hand?" Rinoa challenged.

"Well not this part, most especially this house." then he gave her "the" death glare. "I shall leave now, and Rinoa, if you may be so kind to give me your number?" he added sarcastically.

"Oh why not?" her aunt interjected. "It's 8...3...3...6...2...47"

Squall made a new contact on his cell phone, and gave them a curt nod as a thank you.

"Now make sure you call because my aunt makes killer meals. hahaha" Rinoa said mockingly, "literally."

"Sure, no problem, I'll call if I am going to come by and Rinoa," he then lowered his voice for only Rinoa to hear, since her aunt was busy with Angelo, "can I have your cell phone number too? I don't want to call in the middle of the night to find your aunt answering the phone."

"Hahaha of course," Rinoa keyed in her number on his cell phone, and with that he gave Rinoa a warm smile and bade goodbye to them.

"Well, well, well, I think she bagged herself a royalty now, didn't she Angelo?" Aunt Cecile whispered to Angelo. "Say Rinoa, we'll take care of your college enrollment tomorrow morning okay so make sure after dinner you get a goodnight's sleep."

"Okay." Rinoa replied while suppressing a yawn.

I_ doubt it; I bet he'll really call in the middle of the night._

* * *

A/N: _So what did you think? Rushed? HAHAha well, please R & R so that I could make it better for you fellows  Cyuz!_


	3. An Intro to his World

_Author's note: Guys guess what I found myself addicted to writing; and now i can't stop. Here's another chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own FF, SquareEnix, and any of its merchandise and characters! xD everything here is purely fictional, any event that may seem to relate to anybody is purely coincidental._

--Chapter three--

_Great now it rains on me big time_

Squall thought as he walked on the crowded streets of Esthar as the rain poured down heavily.

_Damn, I have to get back to the airport pronto._

Seeing that all the cabs were full and inaccessible he went to walk on his own back to the airport, which was almost 20kilometers away from where he is. The city is busy, even when it is raining, it doesn't stop the people from doing their business. People from different establishments, state of lives, and places gather in this place, this place they call the market place.

_ugh, I took a wrong turn!_

"Great, just great! Now I'm stuck here in the market place and I bet my ride is already panicking at the airport." he sighed as he ran through the great cluster of people in the market place. No one really noticed even when Squall slipped and almost fell head-on on the fish stand; instead they all went different ways, attending to different needs. It was filthy, musky, slippery, and somehow slimy in the market place. If you were to buy bargains, then this is the place to be, no joke, but to come here at this time, in this weather was no picnic, and most definitely not appropriate.

"Fantastic!" He let out when he saw the signage for the airport saying:

"Esthar International Airport 2km"

He sprinted, not really minding who he hit, or who he collided with. He just went straight to the infrastructure that was now forming before his eyes. "Almost there!"

_There's my ride! Damn I hope they don't notice my wet clothes. Ahck! Who am I kidding? Who wouldn't notice? I'll just have to make up an excuse... _he thought as he sped off to the Benz that had the plate number, PRES on it.

"Sire! We were almost to send off a search party when you didn't arrive on time." the chauffer said.

"Oh c'mon Leonardo, don't over react I just needed to get something from my friend out there on the market place, no harm done, I'm here in one piece and with my clothes and baggage..."

"And not to mention an upcoming cold!" Leonardo interjected. "Tsk tsk sir we have to take you home before you get the flu and get me fired for not watching too closely." and he added a smile.

"Leonardo, you have been my chauffer since I was a kid," squall said. "And you know I don't like it when you intervene with my personal matters."

"I'm sorry sir; I am just trying to do my job and trying to protect you from harm."

"Leonardo, my pal, you know you can't really protect someone from their own selves now, can you?" Squall said with a smirk.

"Oh sire, you know I still try, because a little boy told me to 'keep on pestering them and they'll succumb to your need!'"

"Whoever said that Leonardo must have been someone really mischievous and not to mention handsome."

"Well the mischievous I agree to, but the handsome... maybe I still need a few more"pestering" for me to believe that." Leonardo said with a smile. "Now sir, if you will please fasten your seatbelt because I need to break a few traffic rules to get you to the Presidential palace on time for the ball!"

And with that Leonardo placed the pedal to the metal and within a matter of minutes; they arrived at Esthar's Presidential Palace and Squall's home.

It was a huge estate, with lots of lights and a lot more guards. It was surely protected, since the president and his family resides there. Squall grew up in this lofty estate, with his older sister Ellone. They moved there right after the Estharian revolution, where there father, Laguna Loire, fashionably won the battle and eventually chosen to rule the country until the time they find a suitable person to replace him; in his case, Squall's case, he was the heir.

"Squall! I thought you turned into a goat!" Ellone screamed. "Now, get your butt in here and change for the ball!" she added harshly as she shoved her little brother into the grand hall and eventually to his room.

"Alright, alright! I'll change into more "suitable" clothes! Just hold your horses and give me 2minutes wilya?" Squall yelled as his sister was ushering him into his room.

"Alright, be at the grand hall in two minutes," she said holding up her two fingers to his face. "Two minutes! Or else" she added threateningly.

"Geez, you think she could be a little more welcoming." Squall muttered to himself.

Squall marched into his bathroom to quickly shower and put on a nice tux. _Ugh Ellone you put me up to this._

Ellone was nothing short of a perfectionist. She always wanted everything perfect, and spic and span, it sometimes pisses everyone but then no one had the heart to disagree with her, because if Squall can make them succumb with his "Death" glare, then Ellone can make them follow her every command with her raveshing smile. Ellone took most of their late mother's looks, unlike Squall who only inherited their mother's eyes, Ellone got everything, except for the attitude, and she got almost all of that from Laguna. She stood up as their family's acting "mother" when she was 13, and Raine, their mother, fell into a terrible disease that also took her life. Squall was only 8 when their mom died and Ellone was the one who helped him through his childhood. Laguna was not able to help them for he was way too busy running his country alongside his long time buddies, Kiros and Ward.

Squall looked at himself in the mirror while trying to fix his tie; he never liked tying up a bow tie. "Squall, you done in there?"

"Yeah Ellone I'm fully clothed, you may come in."

"Ugh, I see you still have trouble with bow ties, come here I'll help you with that." she said as she started on his tie.

"Wow, from naughty to nice in a matter of minutes!" Squall commented seeing that Ellone was back to being nice to him.

"What's up sis?"

"Nothing, who would've thought they would really take the "fashionably late" add-on on the invitation seriously," she said while finishing up his tie. "Well anyway... there we go! All done."

"Not half bad sis, you really should do this for a living." Squall joked. "And you should really use joking as your source of income, since you are so good at It." she replied sarcastically. "Anyway my dear brother mind telling me why you are late and soaking wet?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow trying to imitate Squall's death glare.

"Well you see..." Squall said, but he was cut when Laguna came into the room.

"Hey guys, how do I look?" he asked them while twirling.

"Great now no one knows how to knock!" Squall commented sarcastically.

"You look like a president of a country as usual, with the matching flashing fake smile." Ellone said while trying to fix their father's tie as well. "Now I know where Squall got his clueless ness in tying ties!"

"Yeah right Elle, anyway both of you, the guests will be arriving soon, better get your smiles ready and you butts ready to boogie in a matter of minutes!" Laguna told them as he checked himself in the mirror and finally leaving the siblings alone.

"Yeah dad's right, we better get down there to meet the guests." Ellone said while checking her make up and leaving Squall.

"Make sure you get your butt down there Squall." she added with her famous, or rather infamous, smile.

"Yeah, yeah I'll be down there I just need to finish up tying my shoes."

Ellone rolled her eyes and finally left to meet the guests. As soon as her footsteps faded, Squall took out his cell phone and quickly dialed Rinoa's number.

"Hey you have reached me, Rinoa, but unfortunately I am not able to answer this call, so just leave a voicemail after the beep! Love yah!" her voice mail said.

"Oh hey Rin, it's me Squall, I was just calling to check up on you, well I myself got to where I needed to be, just in the nick of time. Well anyway, since you are not able to answer can you call me back when you do? It'd be great if you did, well anyways, goodnight. Bye." and he flipped his phone off.

--

The great hall was fully enveloped with gold and silver making it look like a scene in a movie, the ceiling's tens of hundreds of chandeliers were sparkling with gold and yellow lights, while the sounds that the band was playing was simply breathtaking. It was like a scene from a fairy tale as far as Squall was concerned; only his princess was not there.

"Finally!"

"Ellone, do I really have to be here? I mean, the duchess's niece, Irene, is here and I don't want her to catch a glimpse of me."

Squall whispered to his sister while trying to fake a smile for the incoming guests.

"Well, you just have to deal with the little brat. You know how she makes slaves out of everyone, well not all, because she can't take over me." she added, as she shook the hand of the Lady Zissa, land owner of one of the most prestigious clubs in Esthar.

"Tell me about it, she's a little you." Squall muttered under his breath while smiling at the incoming guest, who was awfully pretty indeed.

"I heard that Squall, and as of a matter of fact she is a little me, because she always arrives on time." Ellone whispered to her brother while trying to motion to the little devil that just walked in the hall.

"Oh brother she's here!" Squall gasped. "This time I won't be her little pony!"

"Good luck!" Ellone hushed to her brother as Squall gave the guest a kiss on the cheek and went to run to his father.

"Dad, I have to go now, I'm not feeling so well, you know... jetlag... "And he acted as if he was about to blow.

"Oh okay son, now go to your room, sorry for putting you up for this." Laguna patted his son's back. "No worries dad, next time I promise."

Squall then stalked off to his room, smiling inwardly as he basked in his glory and success. He slammed the door shut, locked it and lied down on his bed. The night was getting deeper, and he had a message on his phone, this is the only time he realized he left his phone on the bed.

"You've got a voicemail" it read.

"Oh shit! She called me back!" Squall exclaimed as he pressed play.

"Hey Squall, sorry. I was in the shower so I wasn't able to answer, well I see that you yourself is not available too... hmm maybe we could talk some more tomorrow i know we are both tired from the travel... so I guess I should bid you goodnight now. Well anyway I'll call again tomorrow morning... hope you're awake then... kidding... Well anyway... goodnight"

Squall snapped his phone shut, while smiling to himself because a hot girl was calling his cell in the night, and he also was disappointed that he left his phone on his bed.

_Well, too late now Einstein. I'd better change and get some sleep for tomorrow..._:

"Rinoa's gonna call."


	4. Her side of the night

_A/N: Now this one is a short one. :)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own SquareEnix._

**_Her side of the night_**

--Chapter 4--

Aunt Cecile prepared a scrumptious meal for them to eat that night. She made spinach soup, roast beef and mashed potatoes, and for dessert she made them both a strawberry cheesecake. She made everything seem perfect for the arrival of her niece, which as of the moment, was busy chewing down the beef and some mashed potatoes.

"You know Auntie," Rinoa said, after swallowing a whole lot of beef and outcrops, "you shouldn't have bothered cooking a lot of food, I'm used to just eating anything that I could stick in the microwave."

_Okay, lied again Rin, you never ate anything that could be cooked in the microwave, you always eat gourmet food. But no joke this is good._

"Hahaha what are you saying Rin, this is just something I threw up together to feed you." her aunt replied jokingly as she scraped the last remaining potatoes from the bowl. "Besides, it's not everyday I get to feed my niece."

"Hahaha well, if this is what you throw," the raven haired girl replied, " then I wonder how good it'll taste, I mean the food, if you actually cooked it." she added as she finished up her meal with a glass of water.

"Well, now that is funny maybe you should sell it, and we'll earn millions." her aunt sarcastically replied, with a smile, while cleaning up the leftovers. "I think you better go to your room now, remember that it is the one on the right side of the hallway."

Rinoa nodded as she went to clean up the plates. "No, no, this is your first night here, so I clean up, now go to your room I am pretty sure you still have jetlag. " her aunt told her, as she cleaned up the table and shooed Rinoa upstairs.

"Okay, okay! Hahaha, this is the first time I went to a hotel that shooed their customers to their rooms!" Rinoa cried as her aunt started tickling her crazy just to get her moving.

"Hey auntie, can you send up Angelo after she's done eating?" Rinoa asked after finally overcoming the fit of giggles she had from her sudden tickle attack. "Sure thing, just get your butt on your bed Noa."

Rinoa laughed and decided that she should really go up now, because she was really, really coming down with a big headache.

_Oh damn, why now... ugh. Maybe a hot shower might fix it. Then I'll call mom._

--

"That was great! It somehow lifted my headache." Rinoa said as she stepped out of the shower still dripping wet, "Oh, I have voice mails,"

_3 new voice messages_

"Oh, it's from Helga!" she exclaimed as she pressed the play button to hear her best buddy rant about the party and how it sucked. Rinoa laughed a couple of times, and suddenly felt sad having not been there to laugh it out with her best friend. As she wiped away the tears that escaped, she pressed play for the next message.

"Oh mom called, oops, I seem to have forgotten!" She suddenly remembered that she needed to call her mom when she landed, but she was busy with other things.

_"Hey Rinny hunny! It's your mom! I told you to call me after you get there but it seems, you have forgotten again, as usual. Well don't worry because I called your aunt a while ago and she said you were doing great... anyway do not forget..."_

_ugh here come the rules..._

"Bye mom! Love yah!" and she pressed the stop button. Her mom was about to rain words on her about the "guy" that she was with and Rinoa was in no mood to hear them out as of that moment.

_Well come to think of it he still hasn't called. Oh wait! I still have another message!_

_"Oh hey Rin, it's me Squall, I was just calling to check up on you, well I myself got to where I needed to be, just in the nick of time. Well anyway, since you are not able to answer can you call me back when you do? It'd be great if you did, well anyways, goodnight. Bye."_

"Oh my Hyne! I just missed it!" Rinoa gasped as she realized that the call was made not an hour ago, but only a couple minutes before she went to shower. She slapped her head a couple of times and dialed up Squall's number.

_"Hey you have reached me Squall Leonhart, I'm not able to answer for some important reason, so just leave a message after the beep and I'll get back to you."_

_wow, he really is serious, woo. Hey! Since when was I this crazy?! Oh crap the voicemail!_

"Hey Squall, sorry. I was in the shower so I wasn't able to answer, well I see that you yourself is not available too... hmm maybe we could talk some more tomorrow I know we are both tired from the travel... so I guess I should bid you goodnight now. Well anyway I'll call again tomorrow morning... hope you're awake then... kidding... well anyway... goodnight"

_oh hyne I hope that sounded normal. I don't want him to think I'm retarded or anything! Crap, i'm THE Capt. of the cheerleading squad and I'm like this over a boy?? IMPOSSIBLE!_

"Oh well," she sighed as Angelo went to her bedside with her clothes. "Oh thanks girl, what would I do without you? MUAH!"

"Well, I guess we better turn in now girl, we have to give a Squall a call tomorrow morning," she said as she changed into her shorts and tee. "And we better not sound groggy."

And with that Rinoa lied on her bed awaiting sleep to overcome her, which this time, was surprisingly fast. She soon dozed off to dream world.


	5. The Local Hangout

A/N: This by far is my longest chapter:) isn't it great?? LOL

Disclaimer: I don't own SquareEnix.

--Chapter 5--

**_The Local Hangout_**

_Ring ring_

_Argh he's not picking up, I think he may still be asleep._

Rinoa woke up early the next day remembering that she needed to go with her aunt to go and take care of her college enrollment. Still feeling a bit woozy and dizzy, she got up and decided that she needed to get ready ASAP, she was already30mins delayed of schedule. "Sht! I'm gonna be late!" she exclaimed seeing that her watch said: 9:00AM.

_Ugh my appointment is scheduled to be held at exactly 9:30AM! Now I really blew it! _

She went into the shower and finished in less than ten minutes. She then rushed to her suitcase to pick out a suitable outfit.

_Why didn't I choose what I'm gonna wear today, YESTERDAY! This is stupid! _

She found a black suit and a lavender polo shirt, which she accessorized with an eggplant colored tie. She wore it with some closed shoes, which wear of course, pointy and a bit purple too. She then tied up her hair in a pony tail, and muahla, she looked like one of the lawyers in those TV shows she used to watch.

"So what do you think girl?" Rinoa asked Angelo while fixing her suit in front of the mirror. "Make up too much?" Angelo just barked and went downstairs to eat. "Okay, asking a dog for advice is not really a good idea." she said while finally perfecting her ponytail.

_I'd better run for it! _

As she ran down the stairs, which was a huge accomplishment, because she was wearing 3-inch-heels, she smelled the aroma of pancakes coming from the kitchen. This made Rinoa think about something.

_If auntie is the one who set the appointment, shouldn't she be dressed and ready to go now? I mean... OH SNAP!_

"I'm in Esthar!" Rinoa said aloud as she slapped herself on the forehead, thinking that her watch was set wrongly.

"Yes Noa, you are in Esthar." her aunt said while serving pancakes on the table, she obviously heard Rinoa's little realization. "You're up early, we won't be needed there for another hour and a half, so we need not rush things," she said that while smiling and offering Rinoa a seat. "It's only 8:00AM, Noa."

"Ugh! I set my alarm on 8:30AM but it did not wake me, and I thought we're gonna be late, I forgot the time difference!" Rinoa said while sitting down and feeling a bit annoyed by this.

"Well at least you are all ready to go," she motioned to Rinoa's corporate looking self. "Look at you, you look like a professional."

_Yeah a professional dumbass. _

Her aunt Cecile went to clean up, what's left of her pancakes and decided that she herself needs to fix up. So she told Rinoa to relax on the couch for a while. Her couch was huge and was super soft; one can easily fall asleep on it.

"Hmm, I wonder if Squall's awake now... I mean it really is 9:00AM now." Rinoa said as she searched the couch for her phone.

_I must have been like an idiot, being awake that early... ugh!_

_Ring ring_

Rinoa kept on slapping herself on the forehead when suddenly a really groggy hello came about.

"Ugh... Hhe--llo? (Yawns) who is this?" a voice on the other end said.

"Oh, I'm sorry for waking you up Squall. Um... it's me Rinoa." she replied apologetically.

"Oh Rin, it's you. No worries, you just woke me up right on time." Squall said. "I have to be somewhere in a matter of minutes and I forgot about it."

"Oh, so you should be thanking me then? Well, I myself have to be somewhere too." she added thoughtfully. "Hmm, since we're both out today, maybe we should meet up. You know grab coffee and you can tour me around the city."

"Wow, Ms. Heartily are you asking me out on a date?" he replied while trying to suppress a laugh.

"Well yeah, I am." Rinoa replied while smiling. "So will you be free by let's say, 3pm?"

"Oh yeah I think so," the brunette said sounding shocked. "Let's meet up in the Estharian."

"Where is that?" Rinoa asked. "I am not familiar here remember?"

"Oh right, and then just tell me where to pick you up." Squall said while getting up and obviously walking. "Just SMS me where, okay Rin? I really need to fix myself up now."

"Okay, see you later, bye!" And with that Rinoa shut her phone. Thinking that she had a car, she went outside and was thinking of warming it up. But then she realized that her car won't be shipped here until the next month, the beginning of her first college term. "Damn, I sure miss my car..."

"Hey Rin, you ready to go?" her aunt called from inside the house. "Yeah auntie, I'm right outside."

"Oh there you are," her aunt said while walking out on the porch, and signaling to Rinoa to hail them a cab. "Rin, can you call up a cab?"

"Yeah sure thing." With one wave of a hand a cab came to stop in front of Rinoa. "Well that was fast." she was marveled by the cab being called so fast.

"Noa, have you ever heard of the cab-sensor?" Her auntie asked.

"Well, no. But I think I know what it does." she replied while opening the cab door. "I'll get used to this place sooner or later."

--

The cab ride was not fun as the first time Rinoa rode on one, she found out that this added to her being queasy last night. Not to mention that the driver was fast! They arrived at the school in exactly 20mins. But the ride was supposed to last for 40-50mins.

"Do all cab drivers drive that fast around here auntie?" Rinoa asked as she got out of the cab a bit shaken.

"No, it's just this certain cab driver is in a huge hurry." her aunt said while glaring at the cab while it sped away. "I think he needed to use the bathroom, don't you think so?"

"Hahaha well," she replied while fixing her slightly ruined raven locks, "I think it's better we're here early, we wouldn't want to be late now, so how do I look?" she added while turning to her aunt with an earnest look.

"Like a professional." the red head then replied to her with a smile. "Look Noa, you look good, no need to fret."

Rinoa just nodded and gave her aunt a smile. _Why does everybody say that to me? _

They went to enter the administrations building of the university and as they passed by the pillars Rinoa read aloud: "To do what you can is not enough, strive harder, and win better." Then she cocked an eyebrow.

"Hahaha I see you have noticed the motto of the school." her aunt told her seeing the look in Rinoa's face. "I know what you are thinking, and no, I am not a mind reader," she added as Rinoa cocked another eyebrow at her. "This school is really promising, it ranked 1st in the top ten universities in Esthar, so don't let their motto, or oath, or whatever bring you down, or make you think this school is somewhat pompous." she said while walking towards the registrar's office. "Now Noa, I am going to leave you here for a while, I'll be back later on."

Rinoa gave her aunt a nod, and went to "explore" the university's admin building. By explore she means walking around and checking out bulletin boards and flyers. _Wow, this place really is huge, and not to mention very busy indeed. _

The building alone was huge and it was quite older than the other buildings in Esthar. As engraved in the history wall of the school it used to be a huge military school. It held numerous events regarding gunfire, war reenactments, and the like. It gave Rinoa the creeps, her father had once thought of sending her to one of those types of schools and now she is going to one. Well, it may not be a military school now, but it still has that commanding feeling, the feeling of having someone breathe down your neck.

_No wonder I feel weird! It's an old military school... ugh!_

Rinoa went to check out the campus itself, but got back not a moment too soon, to meet up with her aunt. "Oh, there you are Rinoa, I thought you got lost." her aunt said while handing her, her schedule and the student handbook. "Here's your schedule, and this is your handbook, try to learn the rules before hand, so that you won't have any trouble coping."

"I don't think I would have problems coping," Rinoa mumbled as she studied her class schedule. "Hey auntie, I'm supposed to live in the campus correct?"

"Yes, it could be in the local dormitories, or in one of the sorority houses, "Her aunt gave her a skeptical look. "Why?"

"Nothing, it's just I applied for a sorority beforehand and they said they'll be delighted to have Me." she said while looking at her feet. "Well, what do you think?"

"Well then that's good news! That means we won't have to worry about where you'll stay." her aunt replied while looking at her. "So what sorority have you applied in?"

"Well, technically, I was referred by the captain of the cheer squad before me." she said while still looking down. "It's the Iota Omicron Phi"

"Oh that one," her aunt replied earnestly, "I think that is one of the best sororities available in this university. When do they want you to move in?" she asked.

"Um," Rinoa thought. _Um, when did they want me there again? Is it a week before, or 2 weeks before the start? _

"A week before? I'm not quite sure, it is in my acceptance letter; I'll check it again later."

"Good, now shall we go home?" her aunt asked while walking to the exit. She was going to hail a cab for them when Rinoa suddenly remembered she needed to go elsewhere to meet up with Squall, and she also realized that she has 7 missed calls on her phone. "Um, auntie, I was wondering if you could go home without me."

Her aunt gave her a questioning look and asked, "Why? Are you going to do something?"

"Yeah, I was planning on looking around the city, you know, to get to know it." Rinoa replied, sounding a bit more convincing and serious.

Her aunt just gave her a hug and whispered, "Take care of yourself, and make sure you get home by dinner." Then she waved goodbye as a cab just pulled over. "Stellar Avenue please. Remember dinner Rinoa." she called as the cab sped off.

Rinoa was waving to her aunt while also taking out her phone from her left pocket. She saw that she had another missed call, which meant she had 8. Most of them were from Squall, others were from her aunt, and the latest one was from Derrick. _Why the hell, would that dumbass call me? Well anyway, I'd better SMS Squall. _

She walked alongside the road, while typing a text message. "It's such a fine day today," She sighed to herself. "Hey it's still early, I've got a lot of time."

_Damn, why did I have to wear such complicated clothes, maybe I should've changed before heading out, but too late now is it, Rinoa?_

She looked at her watch only to find out that it was only 1pm. She was shocked at how time was being so slow for her.

_Am I anticipating too much that time has played a trick on me and became slow? This is stupid! Ugh!_

_Ring ring_

"Oh Hyne!" she suddenly exclaimed as her phone vibrated in her pocket. Quite a number of passers-by turned to look at her blushing figure.

_Ring ring_

"Damn whoever this is will pay big time." she mumbled to herself as she pulled out her phone and simultaneously smiling at the people who were startled by her sudden outburst.

_Oh My Hyne... It's Squall, but its only 1pm why would he call this early? _

"Hello?" Rinoa said.

"Hey Rin," Squall was almost yelling from the other end. "I finished early and I thought I'd call you up to see if you've finished too." The sound of the car's engine could be heard in Rinoa's end.

"Yeah I saw you left a lot of missed calls. You seem to be in a rush, I mean the car's engine could be heard." Rinoa added while smiling.

"Well, I'm in a hurry to get somewhere, you know the Estharian." he replied mockingly and laughed. "Just kidding, so you free now?"

"Yeah I am, but I told you a million times, I know nothing here, so I don't know the Estharian." Rinoa said sounding a bit annoyed. _Don't men listen?? _

"Hahaha I know you don't know." Squall said. "Tell me, where are you now? Just tell me what you are seeing now." he added as he knew she knew no streets in Esthar.

_Wait, where am I exactly? Oh! The big tower building whatever. _

"Well, I am in front of the Secular Building, or something, I can't quite read it." Rinoa said.

"Oh there, I'll be there in a few minutes, take care before then see yah," and with that Squall hung up.

Rinoa sighed to herself and snapped her phone shut. She would take care alright, this place was creepy and not to mention a bit intimidating, since the buildings were all big. "I sure do fit in." She said while looking at her reflection on one of the windows of the huge building.

_All of the people here are busy, and not to mention, unfriendly. _She thought as one woman was walking towards her and deliberately bumped into her without even apologizing.

_Well, this is entertaining; I will seem like a hooker that'll be picked up by some guy._ "Ugh! What is taking him so long?" Rinoa breathed out as she kicked a stone, which hit a black Jaguar. "Oops!" Rinoa gasped.

_Oh snap! I have to apologize to the owner! Where did that car come from anyway? It wasn't there a while ago. _

"Oh my Hyne I am so sorry," Rinoa said as she looked inside the car. She was surprised when the window went down, that she took a step back. "Oh, Squall!"

_DAMN! _

Rinoa smiled goofily at Squall while trying to apologize. "Rinoa its okay," Squall said opening the door for her.

"Thanks, but I am really sorry though." Rinoa replied while sitting down. Squall slammed the door and went to back to the driver's side. "Look Rin, this car is bullet proof, I doubt a stone might be able to scratch It." he explained as he revved up the engine.

"Oh, okay." Rinoa replied.

They went off to the Estharian then and Rinoa started small talk at the first turn. "Hey if you don't mind me asking..."

"Depends on what you're gonna ask." Squall replied smiling at Rinoa. He wasn't looking at the road while driving; instead he looked at Rinoa straight in the eye. "Wow, impressive," she said as Squall taxingly stopped for the red light. "Hahaha. Squall, why is this car bullet proof anyway?" she can't help but ask this question.

_I mean what is a normal person doing driving a bulletproof car. _

"Well, I'll tell you some other time." Squall replied while pulling over the coffee shop. "We're here now."

"Wow, so this is the Estharian." Rinoa said while getting out of the car, and marveling at the cute little coffee shop. It was in the heart of Esthar and it kinda looked like her aunt's house. It was small and cozy; it only catered to few people since its capacity is not that huge, but this worked to Rinoa's favor for she never liked to hang out in a noisy coffee shop. "It looks sooo cute!!"

"Hahaha. Well not a lot of people know about this place." Squall said while opening the door. "Only the people who grew up here, or have been living here for more than 20 years know this place." he added.

"Why is that? They never branched out?" Rinoa asked as she looked at the homey like surroundings.

"Nope. They wanted people to come to them and they, the owners, wanted to personally know each customer." he said as he waved at the person at counter. "Hey Fred!"

"Who's he?" Rinoa asked.

"He's the owner's grandson. He now manages this place, since the original owners are now retired." he said while leading them to a table. "This place is one of Esthar's landmarks."

"Wow, it is really nice here." Rinoa said as she looked at the menu on the table. "So, being a loyal customer here, what would you suggest I order?" she asked.

"Hmm, almost everything here is good," he said thoughtfully. "I don't know. Well for starters maybe you would like to try their coffee."

The middle aged man at the counter was the one who took their order, and he looked at Squall questioningly, "So Squall, who is this lass that you brought here?"

"This Fred," he said as he pointed to Rinoa, "is my friend Rinoa."

"This Rinoa," he said as he now pointed to the middle aged man, "is Fred."

"It's nice to meet you Rinoa," Fred said, "and welcome to the Estharian."

"Well thank you, and it is my pleasure to meet you too." Rinoa said as she smiled at him. "So Fred, seeing that my friend here is so helpful, what would YOU suggest I order?" she asked.

"Everything we serve here is good," he replied as he winked at Squall, "but why not try our cappuccino since we are famous for it."

"Yeah I'll do that," she said as she shut the menu, "One tall cappuccino please."

"Okay got it," he said as he scribbled at his notepad, "and you Squall?"

"Just the usual Fred."

"Alright then, I'll have your orders served in a few minutes." Fred said and he headed into the kitchen.

Squall never took his eyes off Rinoa the whole duration of their wait, and when their coffees finally arrived Rinoa started asking Squall about Esthar. She asked a lot of questions and then she remembered that she needed to go before 6 and it was now 7.

"Oh my look at the time," Rinoa said as she checked the clock, "I really should go Squall, thank you being patient."

"No worries newbie. I guess I'd better get you home, it is pretty dark." Squall said while paying for the bill.

"HEY! I'm gonna pay for what I ordered!" Rinoa exclaimed.

"No you are not. Now, let's go." Squall said as he threw the 400Gil on the table.

They waved goodbye to Fred and went to go to Rinoa's place. "Listen Squall the offer for dinner tonight still stands." Rinoa finally said.

"Really now?" He asked not taking his eyes off the road.

"Yeah, so you want to stay?" Rinoa asked while fidgeting on her seat.

"Yeah, I'll stay."

* * *

A/N: So what did you think? Was it too soon for them to actually act like that towards each other? well i think so too... so i'll shake things up a lil in the following chapters until then toodles! R &R please


	6. Dinner Disaster

_A/N: Hey I'm back people! And I have another chapter xD_

This chapter has Rinoa's and Squall's POVs. So as an early warning, those in _italics _are Rinoa's and those in **bold **are Squall's. geddit? Ayt! Chapter 6!

_Disclaimer: I don't own SquareEnix and all of these are fictional (DUH!!)_

--Chapter 6--

_**Dinner Disaster**_

They arrived at Rinoa's place in exactly, 15mins. Squall may have driven off road a couple of times, but they arrived there in one piece. Rinoa was glad to be off of the car, the sensation was utterly disgusting, and she was going to puke.

_Dammit Squall's a terrible driver and not to menti--... Ugh! _

Rinoa's face was pale and she looked like she just saw a monster. She was having jelly legs and had to hold on to Squall just to support herself.

"Sorry for making you a crutch." the shaken Rinoa muttered while trying to walk to the door.

"It's no problem, besides it is my fault that you became like this," Squall replied as he literally hauled Rinoa up the stairs. "Now you won't have to worry about gaining weight." he added jokingly.

"Ugh..."

Rinoa obviously wasn't in the mood for jokes. She was sick and she definitely lost her appetite. "Look we have to make it seem like I am not sick," Rinoa was making a huge effort by just speaking, how much more if she were to pretend to be normal. "We must make it seem like I just need to go to the--" and she was cut off by the bile that was threatening to come out.

"Yeah yeah I got it," Squall said as he tried to fix Rinoa up. "And I am sorry for driving like that."

"No, no problem," she replied. "I drive like that too, but then I am not used to being the passenger."

"HAHAHA, well then, shall I ring the doorbell?" he asked.

"No. Just knock, you know the sound of the doorbell's horrible." she said while trying to stop him from pushing the gold button.

Squall barely touched the knocker, when the door suddenly opened and Rinoa's aunt was standing right in front of him. Rinoa looked up and barely escaped with her little act. Thank Hyne Squall was there to cover her up.

"My, my you came," her aunt finally said. "Tell me, is Rinoa with you? She still hasn't come home and i am beginning to get worried."

And suddenly, Rinoa peeped from Squall's back and gave her aunt a wave. "I'm sorry. I lost track of time and I got a bit lost, thank heavens for Squall, who passed by and saw Me." she said.

"Oh! Thank you dear, Rinoa might've been carcass if you didn't find her, or saw her, or whatever." her aunt exclaimed while beckoning them inside. "Well then come inside, both of you, and dinner will be served."

"Squall, remember, I'm normal." Rinoa muttered under her breath while still using Squall as a crutch.

"Yeah I know, just hold on to my arm tightly. If you fall, then I wouldn't be able to explain to your aunt." he replied while leading Rinoa to her seat. "I wouldn't want your aunt to think that...um..."

"That?" Rinoa cocked an eyebrow at him. "That I...um...that..."

**Damn what the hell.**

"Well?"

"Nothing, its nothing." he said finally.

"What's nothing dears?" Rinoa's aunt said while carrying a huge tray with a lot of food.

"Let me help you with that Madame." Squall said while standing up.

"No, no, no, you are a guest thus you don't need to do anything." she replied with a smile. "Well, Rinoa since you came late; I already ate, so you might as well do whatever you want after eating. I'm hitting the sack."

"But auntie it's still early, you could stay here and chat with us." Rinoa said while smiling to her aunt.

"No, no, I'm much too sleepy. Not to mention beat." her aunt said dreamily. "So, I'll leave you guys there and make sure, Rinoa that you clean up. Well, goodnight." and she left for the stairs.

"Then there were two..." Squall muttered under his breath, when suddenly Rinoa fell from her chair with quite a loud thud on the carpeted floor. "Rin!"

**Wait! Since when did I start to call her by her nick? Ugh**

Squall stood up and rushed to help Rinoa up and take her to the couch. He laid her down on the couch and went to kitchen to get her a glass of water.

**Where exactly do i get the water? The tap or the fridge? **

Squall searched for water in the fridge but to no avail. "Tap water it is then."

He then went to the now paler Rinoa and made her drink up. "Hey Rin, wake up and drink this, please."

"Ungh...mmm.." Rinoa tried to open her eyes and sit up, but Squall held her down saying that she needed to lie down for awhile, and that he'll hold the glass for her to drink.

Gulp, gulp

"Thanks Squall." she said with a weak smile. "You've been such a great help, sorry if I spoiled this dinner."

"No problem, it is your dinner anyway," he replied. "And besides, it's my fault your sick now."

Rinoa just laughed and started to turn purple again, and then she turned green... and... and...

"BWEHHHHH!!"

"Shit!"

Squall ran up to get some napkins and another glass of water. "Rin you just puked on the carpet," Squall said while returning with the glass of water. "Not to mention on me too." he said indicating the huge vomit stain on his shirt.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay..." Squall said while handing her the water. "What are we supposed to do about this?" he said as Rinoa looked at the carpet.

_Oh no, auntie's rug...I think it's Persian... oh no! I think I'm gonna vomit again!!_

"Hey, hey! Not here again, hold it in okay?" Squall told her. "Now, point me to the bathroom."

Rinoa extended her index finger to the far right side of Squall and raised her arms. Squall hesitantly carried her, and she in turn wrapped her arms on his neck. He carried her to the bathroom and held her hair so that she won't accidentally spill vomit on it. Squall let her do her business there for quite sometime, and fortunately for Rinoa, he was patient about it.

She vomited quite a number of times that night that it kept Squall busy taking care of her. When she finally become alright, it was already 3am and Squall was fast asleep on the recliner next to Rinoa.

_Oh my Hyne, its 3AM... ungh... Squall's still here! Oh no, I kept him... And he looks... He looks like an angel...with a stinky shirt!_

"Hmm... I remember packing one of those huge football jerseys that Derrick gave me... I think it might fit on him..." Rinoa said as she silently crept up stairs to get Squall a change of clothes.

She searched her luggage so haphazardly that when she finally found the shirt, all the other clothes lay scattered on the floor, on her bed and even on Angelo. "Sorry girl." Rinoa cooed as she stroked Angelo and went down to give Squall the clothes.

She found him with his head drooping slightly.

_Oh... poor Squall... I guess I better offer him a room then... But only...there are only two rooms... _

gulp

"Well then he can stay in mine, or here." She muttered as she gently woke Squall. "Squall? Squall. Wake up..."

"Ungh..." he said as he stirred from his slumber."Oh Rin, you need to go to the bathroom again?"

"No silly, I'm...I'm okay now."

"Oh good to hear..." he replied as he checked his watch for the time.

**Damn it's already 3am the gates of the palace should be closed now... and there is no way that they'll let me through. I wonder if I could crash here.**

"I know, it's pretty late," Rinoa said as she saw the look on Squall's face. "You're welcome to stay here if you want to, I mean think of it as a thank you for taking care of me." and she smiled

"Well it is kind of late, yeah sure, I'll stay." he said as he placed one hand on Rinoa's forehead. Rinoa turned beet red as he did. She wasn't sure but she is slightly shy in front of him, this just happened now, but...

_Maybe it's because of him taking care of me, yeah that's it!_

"Hey! What are you doing?" Rinoa exclaimed

.

"Just making sure you have no fever, you were kind of red minutes ago," he replied while standing up to stretch. "Well I guess you're okay now."

"Yeah I am, but I don't like the way I smell..." she replied while looking at her vomit stained clothes. Squall offered a hand to help her stand up and said: "Why don't you go wash up now, I'll search my car for any extra clothes, because these," he said as he held up his shirt. "Won't do."

Rinoa blushed scarlet. She knew it was her fault, and she was sorry for it. "No," she said and Squall cocked an eyebrow at her. "I mean, I brought you a shirt, you don't have to go out now... I mean it is not safe."

"Why thank you Miss Heartilly, for vomiting on me and bringing me a shirt too." he said jokingly as he took the shirt. "But seriously, thank you."

"You're welcome, and by the way, the bathroom is—" she was about to say the bathroom but then she was cut off by Squall.

"Yeah I know where the bathroom is, I took you there more than three times." he said with a smile.

Rinoa went up to go to her room and shower too, when she suddenly remembered that there weren't any towels in the bathroom below.

_Oh no... I better give him a robe, or a towel, or something to use to dry up. _

At that moment, Angelo came with a towel. "Wow, can you read my mind? Just kidding, you know me all too well..."

Rinoa went in to take a quick shower, so quick that she didn't even think it was her.

_Wow, that was quick, hmm, I wonder if Squall still needs that towel?_

And with that Rinoa went downstairs, with the towel in hand and a wet uncombed hair.

_Oh shoot, I forgot to comb. _

She still went down despite the mess that is her hair, only to find out that the bathroom door downstairs was still locked.

_So he's still in there... hmm... I'd better wait out here... or should I knock? No, I'll wait. But what if he needs his towel? Oh c'mon I'm only going to knock! _

Rinoa stood up from the couch, while still trying to comb her hair with her fingers, but to no avail they remained the way they were." Look at this mess; it's a beginning of a very bad hair day." She then reached the translucent door and she knocked.

Knock, knock

Knock, knock

Knock, knock

_Okay, what is he DEAF??_

"Squall you okay in there? i brought you a towel in case you need one." she said.

_Now I'm pissed, what the hell has he gone dead in there??_

Knock, knock

"Squall!" Rinoa finally yelled, but then quickly covered her mouth and prayed that her aunt didn't hear her. After a moment of silence, no aunt Cecile came from the stairs, Rinoa was relieved. After, 3 more agonizing minutes, the shower was turned off and a figure emerged from behind the curtain.

"Shoot!" Rinoa gasped as she blushed furiously against the towel. "What the hell?!"

As Rinoa was currently panicking on what to do, what to say, or even what to act like, Squall opened the bathroom door, only to come out wearing only boxer shorts, and his sexy, wet brunette hair. "Oh, hey Rin, didn't think you'd come back so fast." he said with a smug smile.

_Oh my Hyne, this is not what I expected..._

Thankfully, Rinoa managed to slap herself together and run a bit more farther from the door making seem that she just arrived and was right-on time. Apparently, Squall didn't hear anything she did, or said. "Here's a towel, I thought you needed one."

Rinoa handed him the towel and Squall laughed. "Hey, what's so funny? I only took it here because I thought you needed one, and I know that there is no to--..." she began to rant, but then Squall grabbed her by the mouth to keep her quiet for her voice was rising at an alarming rate.

"Rinoa, we wouldn't want to wake your aunt up now?" Squall whispered into her ear. She was plastered on his bare chest.

Although this was just to shut her up, she was blushing furiously.

_Damn, I'm blushing way over the limit! _

Rinoa just gave Squall a nod and wriggled to break free from his grasp, but to no avail, Squall never let go. "Hummm! woghts za bbbbgg dlll!" She yelled into his hands. Squall just laughed and asked her, "What was that?" with a mocking smile. He finally set Rinoa free when she bit his hands.

"Hey! You didn't have to do that!" Squall hushed to Rinoa.

Rinoa just stuck her tongue out and threw Squall a pillow. "Think of it as payback." she said with a smile. Squall just laughed and told her that he needed to dry up first before he could think of a comeback line to combat Rinoa's.

"You're just making excuses," Rinoa pushed on. "Pussy."

"What did you call me?" Squall spun around while wearing the shirt Rinoa gave him and cocked an eyebrow at her. "You know that there are certain laws that forbid you from insulting me that way."

"Really now?" she challenged while also giving him a cocked eyebrow expression on her face.

"Yes. My rules." and he gave her his all-so-famous Death Glare.

**Let's see if she could resist or if she could stand it. **

"Tsk, tsk." she replied while walking towards Squall. "You know you can't treat a woman, or persuade her that way now, don't you Squall?" she whispered the last part into his ears, and she was only an inch away from his lips when she finally stopped talking. "So? Aren't you closing the gap?" She asked as Squall was very much indifferent.

"Why not, that is what you would like correct?" Squall said nonchalantly.

"Maybe, maybe not." she said while walking around him. It was turning into a game and they were both pretty entertained by it. "Your call Squall... Wait, what is your surname?" Rinoa suddenly remembered that she doesn't know what Squall's surname is.

"So, you give up this little charade of ours for the sake of getting to know what my surname is." Squall asked her.

"No, not really..." Rinoa said apparently wondering if he ever told her what it is.

"It's Leonhart." Squall finally said as he gazed into Rinoa's hazel eyes, "and I am telling the truth."

"Oh, thank you... now where was I... "Rinoa looked at him thoughtfully, "oh yeah! I'm trying to have you kiss me!"

"Really now? Give it up Rinoa, you ruined the mood." he said.

"Meanie!"

Squall laughed at this statement. It somehow reminded him of Irene, although he doesn't want to be reminded of such.

"You remind of this kid I baby-sit."

_Well I guess you really are full of surprises._

"Um, Rin you okay?" Squall said as he saw the look on Rinoa's face.

"Oh! Yeah! Don't worry, I'm just thinking of something, that's all." she replied hastily and rather embarrassed too.

"I thought you were gonna vomit again." Squall said but not mockingly, instead he was concerned.

"Oh, don't worry; I wouldn't mind lending you another shirt other than that one." Rinoa pointed to the shirt Squall was wearing. "We could throw that to the trash if ever I vomit on it again." she suggested.

"Why? This looks awfully..." he stopped in the middle of the sentence to search for a proper term. "It's awfully big, and not to mention not yours. Is this your boyfriend's?"

"NO!" Rinoa said with a look of disgust spread on her face. "It's... it's... my ex's. That disgusting portrayal of a man."

"HAHAHA" Squall just laughed at the comment Rinoa gave him. "You must've really loved him." he replied sarcastically and went into a fit of laughter.

"Yeah, I did." Rinoa said thoughtfully.

"Rin, I'm so--"

"But all of that love went to the drain when I saw him screwing the biggest slut in our school." Rinoa then smiled at him. "There's no big deal."

"Well then good for you," he said. "For leaving him, that is." He added hastily.

Rinoa then went into a fit of laughter herself. She certainly didn't want to talk about Derrick for he is just a big waste of time but she never really imagined that making fun of him would be as fun as this. They went to sit down on the couch and talk more about this "ex" of Rinoa, and Squall didn't mind it at all, to him listening to Rinoa was like listening to his mom's stories. "You know Rinoa," he said.

"Yeah?" she replied while looking at the now rising sun.

"It's nothing... "

"Oh okay."

"The sun's rising, and we still haven't slept." Squall suddenly said. Rinoa was caught of guard and suddenly realized that it was the morning and that would mean her aunt would be...

"Oh!" Aunt Cecile was in her bathrobes and was going down the stairs when she saw them on the couch.

_**Oh no...**_

"What are you doing here so early Squall?" Aunt Cecile said looking at the watch, which read 6AM. "It's way too early, and not to mention Rin's miraculous awakening at this time of day." She added while looking at Rinoa with a smile.

"Wow, she thought I came back early huh?" Squall whispered into Rinoa's ears.

Rinoa was soon giggling and was also slapped by the fact that she didn't clean up the dinner table last night. _OH NO!! HERE COMES THE PUNISHMENT!!_

"So what would you like for breakfast?" her aunt suddenly peeped out of the kitchen. "Pancakes? Bacon and Eggs?"

"Anything would do Mrs. Simmons." Squall said, seeing that Rinoa was in no condition to talk. "And don't worry, I saw the letter by the fridge while cleaning up, I found out her surname there." he whispered to Rinoa.

_He cleaned up? Oh damn, what happened to me... _

"You didn't have to clean up the food you know." Rinoa muttered.

"Oh, but I have to, it was way too much if I didn't I mean, since you were already sick." he replied without looking at her.

Then Squall suddenly stood up and gathered his things. "Hey! Are you gonna change?" Rinoa asked.

"Yeah," he then went into the bathroom. "I'll be back."

_I wonder if he'll really stay for breakfast, hmm... maybe I should help auntie. _

Rinoa stood up and went to help her aunt in the kitchen. "Hey auntie, do you need a hand with those?"

"Why thank you, and yes, you can start beating those eggs right there."

"Okay." And with that Rinoa went to work. Squall emerged from the bathroom after a few minutes and went to the kitchen to help them out. "Hey is there anything I could do here?"

"Oh, Squall, no no, you can just wait for these to cook."

"So you're staying for breakfast huh?" Rinoa asked him as he went to help her.

"Yeah then I'll head home."

"Okay then, I wonder what your parents will say," Rinoa said and Squall gave her a questioning look. "I mean, you didn't even call them, or something, wouldn't they get worried?"

"No they won't," Squall said while carrying the plates to the table.

"Why?" Rinoa followed soon after while carrying the fresh batch of pancakes. "Did you call them?" she then looked at Squall, at the same time her aunt went in with the syrup and told them both to shut up and eat. "Because they're used to it." He said.

Rinoa and Squall chatted away with Aunt Cecile, and not too soon enough all the pancakes were eaten. "That was a good breakfast Auntie."

"Yeah thank you." Squall said. "I wouldn't want to be an "eat-and-run" but I must go now." he said apologetically.

"Oh, it's no problem. Come back anytime," Aunt Cecile then went to hug Squall. "Now Rinny, would you mind showing him out? I gotta clean up here."

"Sure thing..."

Rinoa showed Squall out but he pulled her wrist and took her with him to the car. "Get in."

"What?? But I... "

"Just get in."

Squall then turned on the AC and started heating up the car. "Look Rinoa, there is another Gala at the Presidential Palace, and i have no one to go with... "

_Is he asking me to be his date?? _

"So, um, I was wondering would you like to come with me?" he asked her tentatively.

**Brace yourself for rejection!**

"Sure! But can I ask..."

"You're always asking," he replied feeling a bit relieved since she said yes. "Anyway, yes?"

"Why are you invited to the Presidential Gala? I thought only the richest and the..." Rinoa trailed off.

"Yeah seems farfetched huh?" he said. "But do you think I don't have the right to attend?" he asked.

"No it's not that, it's just my aunt keeps telling me that all of these galas are prestigious."

"Well, they are. Say would you like me to introduce you to my family?" he said, "They're coming too." he added seeing the look on Rinoa's face.

"Sure! Only problem is... I don't think I packed anything suitable..."

"No problem... I'll come by early like, around... 3pm?" he said "The gala starts at 8pm, I'll take you clothes shopping."

"WOW! Really?? I mean, it doesn't have to be fancy or anything, maybe I have..."

"No, I want you to look your best. Okay?" he asked and Rinoa just gave him a nod. "See you later Rin."

"Yeah see yah!"

Rinoa went off his car and he sped off. _Wow! A gala! I better go tell auntie..._


	7. Meet my Family

_A/N: Thank you for the reviews, my pc died when i was in the middle of writing this chapter and wasnt able to save it, so my 7pages got lost and i had to rewrite it from scratch. Well anyway, enough with my rambling, chapter 7!_

_Disclaimer: i don't own SquareEnix but i sure own the other additional characters! especially Sylvester, i love his character LOL_

--Chapter 7--

**_Meet my Family_**

-

Squall arrived at the palace in approximately 30minutes from Rinoa's place, although he drove in about 220km/hour. The Presidential Palace was situated in the heart of the city of Esthar, and since her place was in Old Esthar, which is in the far Northern part of the city, it was quite a long drive.

"Welcome back, Mr. Leonhart." the guard at the front gate called out as the speeding black Jaguar went into the Palace grounds.

Squall was disembarking his car when he heard a huge commotion from the Great Hall, a series of inaudible voices were being heard, and he thinks he knows who it is and what it is about.

As he approached the huge oak double doors, the voice became clearer. "DAMMIT! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO CALL UP THE CATERER AND BRING THE FOOD HERE AN HOUR BEFORE THE GALA AND NOW YOU TELL ME THAT IT IS JUST NOT POSSIBLE??"

Squall was hearing it clearer when he actually entered the Entrance Hall, "Ellone is too worried, and the gala won't start in approximately 12 hours and she's panicking like it's in a minute." Squall said to the maid that passed by, all worried and panicky. "She should really be told to shut up and "Well, she's been like that since this morning, when she woke up to find that the two men of the house weren't in the 'house'." She said the last part while doing those quotation marks in the air sign.

Squall went to the Great Hall to do HIS job and as he approached his destination he heard Ellone's words a lot more clearly.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? I DON'T NEED ANOTHER SET OF MENUS! I HAVE SEEN FAR ENOUGH, I WANT THE ONE THAT I ORIGINALLY ORDERED! THE ONES THAT ARE ALREADY PLANNED AND SET! THOSE WERE ALREADY PERFECT AND I NO, I DO NOT LIKE CAVIAR!" Squall found Ellone screaming at the maid while waving the menu threateningly.

"It's the caterer's fault Ellone," Squall said. "Not Clarisse's so why not yell at them and not at her?" Ellone threw the tenth menu to Clarisse and it barely missed her by a few millimeters. Clarisse quickly picked it up and gathered all of the other menus and went to escape Ellone's fuming words.

"So you finally decide to come home?" she hissed obviously hearing what Squall said. "Once again, dear brother, you and our dearest father decided not to come home and help me with the preparations!" she yelled as she approached Squall.

"For Hyne's sake Ellone, calm down." Squall raised his voice seeing that Ellone was red with fury. "Geez, there's still plenty of time to 'perfect' the plan."

"YOU DARE SAY THAT," Ellone was now yelling at the top of her lungs. "YOU AREN'T EVEN HERE TO FEEL THE PRESSURE OF PLANNING, YET AGAIN, A PERFECT GALA! YOU COME LATE TO OUR GALAS AND THAT IS JUST BECAUSE YOU ONLY WANT TO TAKE PART OF THE PARTY ITSELF." she screamed.

"Look Ellone, I went to help this friend of mine," he told her. "She's sick and no one could take care of her so I decided to stay there and take care of her."

"WOW, YOU ARE SUCH A NICE FRIEND." Ellone replied sarcastically. "BUT YOU WILL NEVER REALLY BE TREASURED WHEN THE ONLY THING YOU REALLY TREASURE IS YOURSELF!"

"LOOK WHO'S TALKING! YOU'RE NOT SO PERFECT TO LITTLE-MISS-PRIM-AND-PROPER!" he bellowed on the red faced Ellone. Squall was losing his "cool" and didn't like the way she insulted him just now. "YOU YELL AT EVERYONE YOU SEE, AND SCARE THE HELL OUTTA THEM, WHO DO YOU THINK'LL FUNCTION BETTER IF YOU DO THAT?!"

"WELL YOU CAN'T EVEN COME TO AN EVENT WITHOUT MAKING A TOTAL DISASTER OUT OF IT! YOU ARE ONE HECK OF A PERSON TO SAY TO ME THAT WHAT I AM DOING IS WRONG WHEN YOU YOURSELF CAN'T TAKE ANY PART OF THIS!" she added in a harsher tone.

"LITTLE DADDY'S GIRL THINKING THAT YOU ARE PERFECT!" Squall returned the same fury as his sister did. "HEY, NEWS FLASH YOU HAVE FLAWS TOO, WE ARE ONE AND THE SAME! ONLY DIFFERENCE IS YOU DENY THESE AND I DON'T!" he insulted his sister way worse that she did him

Their sibling bickering continued, as the words that they lashed at each other were getting deeper and darker, and not to mention out of the original argument. This argument was the product of the battles that never really determined who won between the two. All the maids and servants went inside the kitchen just to escape the raging words of fire that the two siblings lashed out. It was war.

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO CAUSES ALL THE HAVOC! YOU WRECK EVERYTHING, AND NOT TO MENTION STAIN AND DISRESPECT THE FAMILY NAME!" Ellone was screaming at her brother straight in the face. She was just about to slap him in the face, but then she thought she was better than that, so she remained standing a meter away from him. "YOU ARE A DISGRACE; A BASTARD!"

"OH AND YOU'RE NOT?!" Squall hissed. "YOU SCREWED ALL THE MEN IN YOUR COLLEGE DEPARTMENT AND NOT TO MENTION A PROFESSOR OR TWO! YOU'RE A WHORE!" he glared at her and yelled, "YOU'RE A FRIGGIN BTCH, ELLONE!"

"YOU ASSHOLE!!" and then she lunged at him with claws out in the open. Squall managed to evade some of her attacks but a huge red scratch mark was left on his left cheek.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR? I KNOW YOU SCRATCH MEN WHEN YOUR IN BED WITH THEM BUT," Squall was now yelling at her fallen figure. "ME?! YOU'RE OWN BROTHER?!"

"You are sick. And by the way, I don't use Loire as my surname." he added the last part in a whisper and looked at Ellone with utter hatred.

Now, he has done it. Ellone stood up and fixed her clothes, before once again, lunging into battle; this time she was slapping him. "YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAT A TWIRP! A COMPLETE ASSHOLE!" She yelled at him while tears were starting to form in her eyes from all the anger.

"YOU SLEEP WITH WHORES! FOR ALL I KNOW THE PERSON YOU WERE WITH LAST NIGHT WAS ONE TOO!" Ellone just made the biggest mistake of her life. Squall slapped her square on the face and left her there to be found by their father.

"SQUALL ANDREW LEONHART LOIRE!"

**Oh brother he's finally arrived. **

"What?" Squall hissed as he spun around to face the raging fury his father has to offer.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO YOUR SISTER?!" Laguna yelled at his son, as he helped Ellone up.

"Oh again, the daddy's girl's the one to be saved and considered a heroine." he replied as he rolled his eyes. "I slapped her! Isn't it obvious?" he said sarcastically while pointing to the now red cheek of Ellone.

Ellone staggered a bit to stand up and was now glaring at Squall. "You're the one who started it! You were never of any help and you have the effing right to dictate me, I don't think so!" she hissed.

"OH I STARTED IT?" Squall was getting heated up again. "WHO WAS YELLING AT CLARISSE JUST MOMENTS AGO? WHO WAS THREATENING TO THROW THE MENU AT HER FACE?" he said as he cracked his knuckles.

"Ellone, you yelled at Clarisse? What for??" Laguna was now wearing the expression of utter perplex. He doesn't know who to believe or what to believe.

"Uh, well..." Ellone began, but Squall cut in. "See father YOUR daughter's not so perfect after all, I guess all your seeds are bad." Squall muttered under his breath, feeling the sensation of victory.

"I was just, um..." Ellone cannot explain her side quite well, she was surely losing. "He called me a bitch!" she blurted out.

"You did?" Laguna does not know what to do now. His son was correct; they really are no good. "Well she called me a no good bastard!" Squall cut in. Ellone started yelling at her brother and was starting to heat up as well. They were starting the war all over again, to decide who'll be the victor.

"Enough! Both of you cut it out!" Laguna finally yelled out. "Get out of my face! You are both grounded or better yet I'll cancel the Gala!"

**That's just perfect! I'm leaving this place. Crap**

Squall walked out on his screaming father, while Ellone, tried to clear her stained name. He stepped out to the grounds and took off. He was debating with himself about where he should go, what he should do, but at his current mood and state he wasn't making any progress.

**I need to calm down... at this rate I might just kill the next person I see. **

Squall drove on, and on and on. He had no destination in mind, he has only hate. He was so pissed at his family, for taking sides and for blaming him. It was just unfair.

**It's never fair, come to think of it, Ellone got off easily, she was enrolled in a regular coed school and I had to attend Esthar's military school. She got the title of first daughter and I got the title of the "other" kid. She's the one with the good image and she knows that people know this, and I was left to be the one criticized. **

"It's never fair!" Squall blurted out as he stepped on the gas and headed for no where.

He thought of going to Seifer's place, or maybe Irvine's but then again something deep within him says that doing that will only spike his anger again, and thus, making things worse than what it already is.

**What if I go to Rinoa's? I really did promise her that I'd come by… and maybe she can talk some sense into me, because right now…**

"Ungh…" Squall groaned as he realized that thinking about his family problem's only giving him headaches. He decided to go to Rinoa's place and he wanted to tell her everything; every nook and cranny of this whole mess.

As he parked across the street, he saw a car was parked outside her house. **Hmm, I wonder who that Volvo belongs to.**He cut off the engine and decided to give Rinoa a ring before he went to knock, as he searched for his cell phone, a woman stepped out to their veranda and went to start up the engine of the car. Squall just silently looked at what the woman was doing. She was in her middle ages and was apparently waiting for somebody. After a short while, Aunt Cecile went out too and joined the woman in the car.

**I think they're leaving, so that would mean… Rinoa will be alone. Perfect. **

The middle aged woman then backed up the driveway and went to speed off to the direction of the Eastern blocks. Squall then revved up his engine again and went to park in Rinoa's driveway.

* * *

The sound of a rumbling engine came to reach Rinoa's ears in the kitchen and she went to check on it. _Hmm, auntie might have forgotten something. I'd better go and check. _But when Rinoa peeped through the window, she didn't see a silver Volvo instead she saw an awfully familiar car.

_Squall's here!_

She then rushed to go outside and welcome him, but as soon as she opened the door for him, she saw the look of utter frustration and melancholy spread across his angelic face.

"Squall, is something the matter?" She asked as she led him to the couch. "If there is, do you need help advice or something…? "

"Rinoa," he began. "I had a fight with my family."

**Well, better be done with the hard part. **

"Huh?" Rinoa looked confused. "But why? Is it because you didn't come home?"

"Well, part of it. You see when I got home, my sister Ellone was yelling a top her lungs and she could be heard all over the house." He began his story with this statement, not really implying where, what, or even who his prominent family is. "I got off my car, and went straight to where I heard the sounds were coming from."

"And then?"

"Then I saw Ellone, she was yelling at our maid, Clarisse, for something that is of low importance." He continued. "I saw this happening and decided to do something about it, so I went and told her to stop."

"I'm not being irrational by doing it too, since she was the one who was getting pissed off with Clarisse for such a small reason." He added.

"And then one thing led to another, and before I knew it she went lashing onto me."

**I hope she doesn't notice that this was haphazardly summarized and not to mention I left out all the good parts. **

"Well, seems like you had a pretty big fight." Rinoa said earnestly, trying to think of something to say to Squall, and that is when she saw it. She saw the scratch mark on his left cheek. The swelling has subdued but then there are still some remnants of the nail. "Squall!" she suddenly exclaimed.

"What?!" Squall was caught off guard by this sudden reaction that he actually almost hugged Rinoa, thinking that she was in danger. "What's the matter?"

"Oh, I'm sorry for over reacting. It's just I saw a scratch mark and it looks pretty deep for one." she said trying to sound calm and composed despite her obvious shock from what she is seeing. "Um, we better get that cleaned up."

Rinoa went to the kitchen to search for her auntie's first aid kit. _I wonder why he got that cut, and from his sister too, he must've said something that'll make her lunge at him for sure. _She thought while searching through the cutlery, _and I wonder if he'll still introduce me to them, I mean given their current situation. _She finally found the kit, and stupid her, forgot that it was just under the sink.

She returned to Squall with the kit and a bottle of alcohol in hand. Squall cocked an eyebrow as he saw the huge bottle of alcohol. "You really think it is that infected?" he said while still looking at the alcohol.

"No, not really." She spoke nonchalantly as she worked on his cut. "I'm curious, why is this cut so deep, I mean it's only been cut by a nail."

"HAHA, well the answer to that is because my sister gets her nails painted with platinum polish," he said it in an awkwardly happy manner. "You know the ones you use to make your nails the ultimate self defense weapon."

**Aww man this is embarrassing I swear to Hyne. **

Rinoa just cocked an eyebrow at him and asked, "Why do you know such things? Those aren't cheap you know," she continued. "It's like 200Gil per nail. They're really expensive and not to mention totally useless."

"Well not really since now—OW!" he yelled as Rinoa applied pressure on the alcohol soaked cotton, on Squall's wound. "Sorry." She replied with a smile, the goofy one.

"Anyway, it's not really useless." Squall carried on while indicating the painful sensation he just felt. "Hmmm…"

"Yeah Rin?"

"There is a bit of platinum in the wound, that's why it is painful." Rinoa muttered. Squall found it weird that she knew how to mend things like these, so he asked if she had any background in simple medicinal procedures or techniques. "Nope, I had no training, this is just instinct, you see I'm a cheerleader and when the nurse is not available I tend to my squad's medical need." She explained while trying to get rid of the platinum that was stuck in Squall's wound.

"OOOOOOUUUUCCCHH!!"

"Oh stop being a baby Squall," Rinoa said as she finally pulled out the 3 millimeter platinum in Squall's wound. "There, all done now."

"All we have to do now is put a band aid," she said as she took one from the kit and placed it on the wound. "And muahla!" and with that she gave the wound a kiss, to be exact she gave Squall a kiss on the cheek.

Rinoa turned scarlet and started to clean up the kit as fast as she can. _What the hell Rinoa??_ The kiss has obviously not yet registered to Squall yet, that when Rinoa stood up that is when he asked, "Did you just kiss me?"

"Well yeah, to make it heal faster." And she went back to the kitchen to return the kit. "So Squall," She spoke from the kitchen sink. "We're not going to the Gala anymore are we?"

"No, I'm afraid we aren't." he said while thinking. **Shall I tell her the truth? She deserves it anyways… **

"Oh I see."

"Rin, come here I want to tell you something."

Rinoa approached Squall with an earnest but confused look on her face. "Haven't you already told me everything?"

"No. You see Rinoa," he said as he gently pulled her down to sit beside him. "My father's really prominent here, and if they find out what happened between me and my sister, then my dad's ass will be in jeopardy."

"Just how prominent are you when you say you are prominent?" Rinoa asked. _Did I just make sense? Well he isn't exactly making any too._

"Well, don't laugh and you better believe me too." Squall said taking her hand in the process. "You have to promise."

"Yeah I promise." She said while taking her hand away from his grasp. "It's not like you're the son of the President, because then I would really be shocked."

**What's with her? Can she read minds or is she just lucky? Well... here goes. **

"Ahem," Squall looked at her and cocked an eyebrow. "What do you think?"

"What?! You ARE the son of the president?" Rinoa was shocked alright, she didn't know what to say, which was very, very rare.

"I am, and the Gala that will be held tonight is at our home," he said. "The Presidential Palace."

_Oh Hyne, I seduced the President's son. And I am a general's daughter. This is just keeps getting better and better. _

"Well then, that's a shocker."

"Yeah I know,"

_Awkward silence_

**Well she could at least say something. Anything. **

Rinoa suddenly had an idea that would make her and Squall win in both cases. Since she wanted to meet his family, even if it is the President and the First Daughter, and he wants to take her to the Gala, and even he doesn't mention it, he wants the feud to be over, so she thought of a peace offering

"Squall," she began. "I think you should make up with your family."

"What are you saying? Are you crazy? It hasn't even been a day." Squall answered, obviously annoyed. "I won't."

"You will." She then took his hands in hers. "C'mon."

She took the keys from Squall's back pocket and pulled him to the driveway. She was going to make this person make peace with his family. "Let's go Squall."

Squall looked doubtful. He didn't want to make peace with his family just yet. It's like going against the law of nature. It was just wrong. **No way am I getting in that car to go to the Palace. NO FCKING WAY. **

"Oh c'mon Squall!" Rinoa went out of the car and shoved Squall into the car, so forcefully that Squall's head hit the shift stick. "OOUCH! Are you trying to make me sit down or are you adding more injuries?"

"Sorry, but you are really stubborn." She replied while closing the door and going to the driver's seat. "Now buckle up."

**Wow, I wonder if she realized that this car is STICK!**

"Well?" she raised her eyebrows at him disbelievingly. "You are like a little brother you know that!" she added while buckling up Squall. By doing so she went down on him, it was a pretty funny sight from the outside. "Hey! HEY!! Easy Rin!"

"There, all buckled up." She said while fixing her own seatbelt. She buckled him up good for he cannot move an inch. The belt was twirled around his left thigh and also on his right arm. He was held captive by a woman in his own car.

"This is too much."

"It's already 6:30pm, Squall. The Gala starts at 8pm. We have to hurry." She explained as she revved up the engine.

"Rin, you do realize that I know the way, I drive stick and I am a faster driver than you." He protested despite the ridiculous position. "I'll drive."

"No," she answered flatly. "I'll drive; you won't be going to the Palace if you did."

**I swear she has mind reading powers.**

"Now, just tell me where to go and make sure you hang on tight." Rinoa said as she made final checks on her seatbelt.

"Rinoa this car has MANUAL TRANSMISSION." Squall said once again while Rinoa was backing up the car.

"And you think I can't drive stick?" Rinoa asked with a cocked eyebrow. "Well?"

"Well—YEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Rinoa stepped on the gas, hard. She was an excellent stick driver and not to mention bagged the "Drag racing Queen" Award back in Deling, of course, her mother didn't know about this.

"Well I am impressed." Squall said as he finally regained composure and fixed up his seat belt. "You drive almost as good as I do."

"Almost? What do you mean almost?"

* * *

Rinoa took the supposedly 2 hour drive to the Palace in less than an hour in fact she took it almost the same time Squall did. "See I told you, ALMOST." Squall said as he took off his seat belt and went out of the car.

"I love this car! It's faster than my Lexus, "Rinoa announced as she got off the car herself. "And it's way, way cooler."

**So she loves cars, she really is interesting.** Squall thought as he was unaware that he was staring at Rinoa.

"Hey genius," Rinoa snapped her fingers at him and asked, "Something the matter?"

"No nothing," he quickly pointed to the Entrance hall. "Let's go."

The entrance hall was so quiet, that an imaginary eerie sound emits from one's ears. Squall always found this place soothing, but to Rinoa, it's just creepy. "Squall this place is creeping me out." She said as she grabbed on to his arm. "And I am nervous."

**Wow, she thought of this great idea and now she's nervous, women. **

"Look Rin, this is your idea, and now you're nervous," Squall began as he pushed the doors to his father's office. "Pull yourself together, and wait here." He left Rinoa at the office's waiting area.

The waiting area did not look like a waiting area. It was like an office itself. It had 3 tables for the secretaries, a bench, a water dispenser, two photocopiers, lot's of filing cabinets, and not to mention it was fully carpeted. "This reminds me of Dad's office in Caraway manor."

She could hear voices coming from inside the office, apparently Squall's sister was in there too, and they are starting to heat up. _If their father is not to interfere now, nothing will happen. Someone must interfere. Someone… _Rinoa opened up the door to the office to find 2 angry siblings and a very much clueless father.

* * *

She felt a little bit hesitant and was regretting that she even opened the door, for the sight that she was seeing was something any person would regret to see.

_Damn I think I should've knocked first!_

Ellone straddled Squall on the carpeted floor, while Squall was obviously trying to remove and evade her, but to no avail she still slapped him. It was pretty funny to look at but considering that they are both adults and they are the President's children, it looked irrational.

That was then, that Rinoa first laid eyes on Squall's dad: Laguna Loire, President of whole Esthar. He was fairly tall, just like Squall. He also had long hair, and it was black, and none of his children inherited the nice colored hair. _Too bad none of them had that hair, I bet their hair were inherited from their mom, I wonder what she looks like. _Rinoa thought as he scanned the room for Squall's mom. Seeing that there were only 4 of them there, she gave up the thought and focused on the now fighting siblings.

This time Squall was on top and was trying to stop Ellone from scratching him, again. Rinoa intervened this time, pushing through Laguna, which was only watching the whole fight. "Enough both of you!" she yelled as she pulled Ellone from beneath Squall. "Squall cut it out!" she hissed at Squall as he was trying to grab Ellone, this time Laguna intervened and thought it would be best to grab his son.

"Would you calm down both of you?" Rinoa commanded. "Nothing will ever be fixed if you continue bickering and fighting like you do!"

"Yeah, this young lady is correct," Laguna added. "You better calm yourselves or we'll straddle YOU in between OUR legs!"

"How dare you show such low conduct in front of a guest?!" he hissed at his children.

_So if I didn't intervene he wouldn't have? What the….? _

"Listen, sir, if you don't control these two," she indicated the two harassed looking individuals in the room. "They might just kill themselves."

"That would be nice! Thinking Ellone as dead is a very comforting thought indeed." Squall said through gritted teeth.

"Oh yeah?" Ellone contested. "And you think you would make a better "First"? Think again!"

"OKAY! That is enough!" Laguna bellowed on both of them. "Squall, why did you come back here with your head still heated up from your previous argument anyway? You never do that."

"I don't." he replied a bit calmer now than before, "This is her idea." He said as he pointed to Rinoa.

_Oh shoot, NOW he introduces me!_

"Yes, it is my idea to make him come back here." Rinoa said. "Forgive me, where are my manners, my name is Rinoa Heartilly."

"Well, so who are you in my son's life Rinoa?" Laguna asked nicely, although it was pretty out of their current topic.

"I'm his friend, he came to my house to calm down," Rinoa explained. "He was pretty calm when we got here, but I think he heated up again."

"Well, it's obvious enough isn't it?" Ellone said while she struggled to get out of Rinoa's hold. "Rinoa, if you would please let go of me I promise I won't lash." And she gave her a very sweet smile.

"Ookay." Rinoa let her go, but she placed her hands on Ellone's shoulders and pushed her down on a chair. "Why don't you sit down and talk."

"Talk?" Squall asked while Laguna sat him down on a chair too. "About what? If we don't argue we lash, if not, she commands me and she thinks I have to do it right away."

"Look Squall, there is obviously bitterness in your words." Laguna said. "Maybe you should start letting go of what happened between the two of you from long ago."

Rinoa was dazed and wondered what could have happened before to make these two, usually composed, individuals heat up that easily when they see each other.

"You must let go of whatever that is Squall." Rinoa spoke. "I may not know what happened but it is better than just bickering all the time."

"You don't know anything about it Rinoa so zip It." he said harshly.

"Squall! She's just trying to calm you down and probably trying to talk some sense into you." Ellone said.

"Elle, that's enough." Laguna said. "What is the reason behind your coming back here right now?" he asked Rinoa.

"Well, we actually came back here to—"Rinoa started when Squall cut in. "She wanted me to apologize to Ellone."

"Well then why don't you?" Laguna asked.

"Because it is not my fault…."

_Eerie silence again. Ugh…_

Ellone looked around and she saw that Rinoa was nothing short of pissed off at Squall's attitude, well actually both their attitudes. She decided it would be best to apologize right there and then to Squall; apologize about everything.

"Look Squall, bro," Ellone began, no one expected her to talk so they were all shocked when she did, everyone, except Squall. "I'm sorry for everything…"

"I'm sorry for being such a pompous bitch, yes everything you accused me of is true, but to tell you the truth I did not choose to be like such, believe me. I never wanted to do what I did to you back then, it's just…. "She stopped in the middle of her sentence to calm herself and stop herself from crying, but to no avail. "It's just… I was really hurt when mom died, and I've always believed that you were to blame. Even though I pretended to fill her place, I never really did become her."

"Why…?" Squall asked. "Why did you blame me? I mean mom fell ill, it's not like I wanted that to happen…"

"I know!" Ellone said as tears cascaded her cheeks. "I know! It's no one's fault but then I thought that if I were to blame anyone, it would make me feel better! But it never did."

"I'm sorry, I just didn't want to blame dad for it, and since you were a kid and you knew nothing then, you weren't affected by her death so much. I became angry, angry that you weren't sad about it, that after a month you were back to being normal, I was… I was kind of envious." She was on the edge of her seat when she finished and Squall was all but affected by her speech.

"You envious?" he said as he cocked an eyebrow at her. "You think I wasn't affected?"

"You were always the praised on Ellone, you were always the best one to handle pressure, and for Hyne's sake you're even better at that than dad! You were never criticized and were always favored. I envied YOU. And for your information, I was affected by her untimely death, probably more than both of you were. I only pretended to be a good kid, one that never cries in public, one that was always happy and bouncy, one that everybody would feel happy when they see me, one that was perfect." Squall added the last part bitterly.

"I was affected Ellone. I always cried myself to sleep. I have lived through fake smiles and laughs that I have gotten immune to them, but I never forgot mom. Never."

"So… so…" Ellone began as she sniffed. "So it was only a big misunderstanding?"

Both of them were now calm and much more rational than they were moment ago. Both were starting to understand each other.

"Yeah I think so too, Elle."

"I'm still sorry for it, for everything… I hope you can still forgive me…" Ellone said while looking at her feet. She obviously wasn't equipped to handle anything like this, not right now.

"I forgive you sis." Squall said. "Don't worry. I'll still be your slave." He joked.

"HAHA you don't need to be. You can just be my little brother, just like before." Ellone stood up and gave Squall a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Well, that's that. I better get rid of all the paraphernalia that I left in the Great hall."

Laguna stood up from his chair and went to stop Ellone from going out and said, "No need, we'll push through with the Gala, since the preparations are all finished and we only have an hour before the guests start to arrive."

"So we'll continue with the Gala?" Squall said to clarify and make sure he didn't turn deaf from all the yelling.

"Yes, so you, both of you," he added pertaining to Rinoa. "Should get ready."

"Me?" Rinoa said.

"Yes you silly," Ellone said. "Thank you for forcing him to come here, I mean if it weren't for you we might still be at war." She added with a smile.

"Well, um… thanks?"

They all laughed at Rinoa's comment. But it was cut short when Laguna said, "Alright, enough. Now Rinoa, I'll get to know you later on, right now, you have to get dressed!"

"But, but, I have nothing to wear." Rinoa blushed as she realized that she wasn't able to pick out an outfit.

"Oh yeah! I was supposed to take you shopping…." Squall suddenly realized this fact and was beating himself up inside.

"No worries, I had these kinds of moments all the time," Ellone butted in. "I'll take care of her, and you TWO, you had better get your asses ready on time! Okay?"

"Okay." Laguna and Squall answered in unison.

* * *

Ellone took Rinoa by the hand and rushed to the second floor landing, and went through the first door on the left it read: "Tailoring"

_Oh god I hope she's not planning to make me a dress now! I mean there isn't much time!_

"Matilda? Are you here?" Ellone asked as she sifted through fabrics.

"Yes ma'am?"

"I want you to take Rinoa," she said as she indicated the raven haired girl behind her. "And take her measurements, I would also want you to use these fabrics and make her a simple dress, much like the one you made me that time when the President of Deling came by."

Matilda, the tailor, just nodded and went straight to do what she was asked to do.

"Send her to me when you are finished with her measurements, I'll just be in the other room."

"Of course."

Matilda took Rinoa's measurements quite fast.

_She must really be used to being asked to take measurements, or she's just bionic._

"You must really be used to doing this huh?" Rinoa asked as she took her waist measurement.

"Let's see… 24in…" Matilda muttered as she wrote it down. "Yes, you can say that I am pretty used to it. Ellone never wants to repeat her dresses or gowns. She thinks she might just alert the fashion police if ever she did. Same with her dad and brother, except Squall just always wants adjustments."

"Wow, so that's why. I was wondering why you're fast."

"Well, I got used to it." she said. "There, all done."

_Wow that was super fast. _

Matilda then showed Rinoa to where Ellone was at, and went back inside to start on the dress that Ellone wanted.

"Oh Rinoa! Done with the dress I see. Come, I want to introduce you to someone." She said as she led Rinoa to the interior parts of the room. "Rinoa, this is Sylvester."

"Sylvester, "she pointed to Rinoa. "Rinoa."

He shook Rinoa's hands and led her to the chair. "Madam vat vould yooo like muah to zoo veeeth err?" he asked Ellone.

"Well, put make up on her silly!" Ellone joshed. "Just kidding, I want to make her seem like an angel, can you do that?"

"Ov courz, vut I tell yooo ve zon't reelly need much vork veeeth err fez." He said as he was examining Rinoa's face. "But I'll see what I can do." He added.

"Good, you can take care of her first I'll be right back okay? When I get back you can do me." Ellone said as she went her way. "Oh and can you do her hair too? Thanks."

And with that she went her way.

_I wonder what he's planning to do, he seems pretty serious._

Rinoa thought as Sylvester was trying to think of what to do.

"I'll veel take care ov yourrr airr virzt, zen I veel zoo yourrr make up." He said. "Is that okay with you sweetheart?"

Rinoa just nodded and let Sylvester work his magic.

* * *

Ellone went to change into her outfit and was on the way to check up on the Great hall, when she passed by Squall's room. At that exact time, Squall went out of the room, looking rather flushed and not to mention handsome. "Elle!" he called out.

"Yep?" Ellone asked as she spun around to talk to her brother. "Oh, the necktie, as usual."

She then went to fix up Squall's tie and within seconds it was perfect. "Thanks Elle. By the way, where's Rinoa?"

"Well," Ellone said while fixing up his suit. "She's getting ready as of now, she is your date correct?"

**Oh my, she is my date. **

"Yeah, you can say so." He said while looking away from Ellone.

"You like her don't you?" she teased her already embarrassed brother. "Well?"

"Well, she is pretty, and to mention hot." Squall then went red and was shocked that he just said what he said. "I mean, she is—"

"HAHA, well now, you are finding her attractive, why not pursue her?" she asked.

**Why am I on the spot here? ELLE!!**

"Well? Why not? You are a… "She looked at him straight in the eye with a mocking smile. "LEONHART, are you not?" Then she laughed as she saw the look of utter mortification spread on Squall's face.

**I'll get you for this Elle!**

Squall was now furiously red from Ellone's joshing. And he didn't like the way he looked now. He was red and was turning green too. He was nervous.

"Hey you okay there?" Ellone asked as she got over her little episode.

"Yeah, just a bit nervous."

"Weird." Ellone muttered. "I'm not pushing to do so but you know what, I really like her."

"Well you're not the one who's going to ask her now are you?"

"Look you already got here, so why not. Try it later. When dad is busy, do it, ask her; so that he won't be such a nuisance." Ellone said with a smile. "As much I want to stay and chat, I have to be somewhere, so I'll be seeing you later; be at the Entrance hall by the next 20 minutes."

"Okay, okay." Squall muttered. "I'll be there, and by the way, you look good in that dress."

"Why thank you, it was given to me by a friend," she then turned to leave and go to Rinoa. "A designer, to be exact."

* * *

She went back to Matilda to check up on the dress that she wanted for Rinoa. "Matilda is it ready now?" she asked.

"Yes, but I still need to add a bit more bead work on the edges. "She answered back. "That dress looks good too madam."

"Why thank you!" Ellone said while giving the dress a twirl. She wore an off-shoulder dress with a Venus cut style. It was in the shade of lavender and had some really intricate bead work around the collar area and also on the bottom of the dress. She topped of the outfit with a simple diamond choker and some stud earrings that matched her silver, diamond studded heels. "Do you need help with that?"

"Well, there is a bit more needed at the top, near the edge." Matilda pointed to the top part of the dress.

Ellone went to help and within minutes the dress was perfect. "Thank you Matilda, I better bring this to Rinoa."

* * *

Meanwhile, Rinoa was just about done with her make up when Sylvester went to find a lipstick brush, because the one he was using was losing its bristles. "Vhere izz zat zingy!" he was frustrated as he frantically searched for the missing lip brush. "Zis eez ze lazt part and I lozt ze brush!"

Then suddenly the door opened and Ellone peeped through with a dress in hand.

"Well, Sylvester, since you are busy looking for the lip brush I'll take her," she said as she tugged at Rinoa's arm. "And put this on her."

"Wow Ellone you look good." Rinoa said while still running just to keep up.

"Well, I still need my make up but thank you, and please put this on, we don't have much time left." She said as she pushed Rinoa in one of the dressing rooms and shoved the dress in it too.

Rinoa took quite a lot of time trying to figure out where the latch was and Ellone was running out of patience. "Let me help you with that." She said as she invaded Rinoa in the dressing room.

"Hey!"

Ellone zipped up her dress and twirled her around so that they were now face to face. She gave Rinoa a smile and then grabbed her to go back to the now pissed off Sylvester.

"Let uzz finish ze lips…" he said as he spread the lip gloss on Rinoa's lips "And viola!"

"Wow, she looks good." Ellone said.

"Yez… like an angel." Sylvester said as he marveled at his finished project.

Rinoa was stunned to herself in the mirror; she really did look like an angel.

_Wow!_

"Now, yourr turn." He said to Ellone.

Surprisingly it only took him almost 5mins to finish Ellone up since there really wasn't any goal and she already looked nice. After her fast make up and hair session with Sylvester they bade him goodbye and set off to the Entrance hall.

The sounds of their heels were clattering on the marble floors of the second floor and it echoed towards the Entrance hall.

**Oh boy, I wonder how Rinoa looks….**

Laguna and Squall both looked up at the top of the stairs at the same time to see Ellone calling to someone; and then they saw her, an angel.

**Wow.**

* * *

_A/N: so now I leave you with a cliffhanger!(well not really) Thank you to raindropsX for the reviews i appreciate the compliments:)  
_


	8. A Night of Passion

_A/N: yay! another fluffy chapter. ;) a tad bit of lemon people. remember you have been forewarned. so now, chapter 8!  
_

_Disclaimer: i don't own any of SquareEnix's games. _

--Chapter 8—

_**A Night of Passion**_

As Rinoa descended the stairs to the Great hall, she looked to Squall and gave him her goofiest smile. This made Squall look at her in a funny way, he didn't give out his usual death glare but instead, he gave her another look; the look of pure infatuation.

**Oh Hyne she looks good, no not good, like an angel!**

She wore an of shoulder gown, with a dark indigo color, the fabric that was used was silk, and it was a balloon cut too, so the fabrics inside were of lavender shade and were really puffy; perfect for evening occasions. It had sequins and beads attached to the edges and the design looked pretty intricate. The beads form a spiral flower shape on the bottom part of the gown and on the back, were ribbons; lots and lots of ribbons. Her hair was kept in a tight bun, which pulled out most of her bangs, but some were able to escape the spray net. She also wore simple single-band, 4in heels; which were studded with diamonds by the cuffs. She looked like a gift and an angel at the same time.

"Well?" Rinoa said as she gracefully descended the last remaining steps to finally reach the ballroom itself. "Why are you looking at me all funny?"

"Is there something on my dress?" she added as she searched her dress for any imperfections and when she found nothing, she looked up and raised her eyebrows at Squall. "Well?"

**Oh I must speak!**

"Ssso-so-sorry," he stuttered as he tried to reply to Rinoa's inquiries. "You were saying?"

"Nothing at all… c'mon, let's meet the guests!" she said as she pulled Squall by the arm and went straight for the Entrance. "So a lot of people really come to Galas huh? I only went to one of these once when I was a kid."

**I should really give her a compliment. **

_Squall really is quiet tonight I wonder if something's still bothering him._

"Rinoa," he said as he stopped in the middle of the hall. Rinoa spun around to look at what he is doing or what his reason is for stopping abruptly. "You look good. No, not good. Perfect."

Rinoa blushed at the statement and went to run to give Squall one big hug. "Thank you!"

"The only thing missing from your dress is an attachment of wings." He commented as Rinoa spun around to let him marvel her gown.

"No not wings." She replied and then she pulled Squall again to the door. "What then if not wings?" he asked as they reached the doorway, but the only reply he ever got was a sweet smile that graced her lips as she intertwined her arm with his.

They greeted all the guests, and Rinoa was always given a compliment, or if not, they asked who she is in Squall's life. When these questions arise they blush and cannot answer properly, thank Hyne Ellone was there to explain everything, but the guests do not find it convincing; especially Irene.

"Good evening, welcome!" Rinoa said as the Duchess of Cerulean came and shook hands with her. The Duchess came with her infamous niece, Irene.

Irene shook hands with Rinoa and was about to say something pleasant when she saw that Rinoa was Squall's date for the night, she changed her mind. "Who are you?" she said as she pulled Rinoa to eye level, in Rinoa's case, 12 inches lower.

"I, um…" Rinoa stuttered not really knowing how to react or even what to say. Seeing this happen Squall came into the rescue. "Irene this is Rinoa," he said as he took her hands and led her inside. "My date."

"She's not!" Irene exclaimed, but to no avail she was pushed asunder when another couple stepped in to be greeted.

"Who was that girl?" Rinoa whispered to Squall as she shook the hands of the guests. "I'll tell you later, long story."

Rinoa just nodded and awaited the next guest to step in. After much handshaking and small talking, the welcoming of guests finally ended and it was time to do some mingling.

The party was as expected, nothing short but spectacular. This time there was a theme, and the theme was, the Victorian. The guests were all having fun and Ellone was really happy to produce such a marvelous Gala.

* * *

"Ellone this is by far the best Gala you ever arranged." Squall whispered into her ear as he passed her by on the dance floor.

"Remind me to thank Rinoa for your compliment!" she called out as her partner spun her 'round and took her to the other side of the dance floor.

* * *

Laguna was most certainly enjoying himself, while being in the company of his two best buddies who arrived just a little bit before the down pour of guests. He was animatedly talking to Kiros when he realized that it was time for him to give his speech about the charity gala.

He then went to the center of the dance floor with a wine glass in one hand and a microphone in the other.

"Good evening! Ladies and gentlemen, guests, friends, relatives, fellow Estharians!" he greeted them in his usual friendly manner and everyone immediately fell silent to listen to him. "We are gathered here today in this grand celebration to hold our annual Charity Gala. As always our goal is to raise enough money for the needy, in Esthar or in some other country that we don't know of. "He paused allowing the information to sink in on the audience.

"Firstly, I would like to thank all of you who came. Of course the Duchess for gracing us with her presence once again," he said as he raised his glass to the direction of the Duchess of Cerulean. "And of course do not think that the rest of you that came here are of less importance, because you are most important to me and my family. "He then paused and gave a warm smile.

"Secondly, I would like to thank my daughter: Elle," he said as he called upon Ellone to come to his side. "For making this Gala a reality and pushing through with the wonderful theme of…What is the theme again Elle?" Of course, Laguna wouldn't be Laguna if he's not to make any mistakes in his speech. "Its Victorian, dad," Ellone muttered under her breath and gave Laguna and the audience a smile. "Oh yes, yes… "

"Thirdly, I would like to…"

* * *

"C'mon Rin let's get outta here." Squall said as he tugged at Rinoa's arm. "But Laguna's speech is not yet finished." She protested.

"Trust me; it won't be finished in another 15 minutes." He replied as they squeezed through the mass of people gathered on the dance floor.

_Wow, he sure doesn't like his father's speeches; he must have really gotten tired of it._

**Ugh if only Rinoa knew that my father can give out a speech for almost an hour she would've jet sooner.**

"Squall, where are we headed anyway?" Rinoa asked as she saw that they passed quite a lot of corridors and that she was lost. "And can you please slow down, my shoes are not flat you know!"

"Sorry for making you walk, but don't worry. We're near." Squall called out from his shoulder while amidst pushing a huge statue out of the way.

_Near where exactly, the dungeons? I doubt they would have one of those!_ Rinoa thought as she felt the painful effects of the 4in heels that she was wearing.

Squall led them both to a passageway within the bowels of the palace. He then helped Rinoa up a ladder that led to yet another walkway, although this time it was outside and one could definitely hear the waves.

"Squall, where are you taking me?" Rinoa asked once again, thinking if Laguna's speech would have been finished by now.

"Just trust me." Squall said as he pushed the wooden oak door to reveal to Rinoa a tiny patch of shore.

Rinoa can't help but push past Squall and remove her heels to run to the water. "WOW!" she yelled to Squall as she went to the waters. "I never thought there would be a place like this here in Esthar."

"Well there really isn't," Squall said as he removed his own shoes to walk towards Rinoa. "This is man-made."

"Oh wow." Despite hearing this Rinoa can't help but ogle at the view.

"So this is where you go when you get bored of your father's speeches?" she asked him as she saw him sit down on the sandy shore.

"Well, yeah, or when I get pissed at Ellone." He said as he reminisced of the times that he went here. "I come here when I get disappointed or sad or bored or when I'm happy."

_Wow he sure does come here a lot. No wonder he didn't get lost. _

"Oh I see, do a lot of people know about this place?"

"No, not really. Just the servants and I; not even dad or Elle knows." Squall said as he stared intently to Rinoa's eyes.

"Why not?" She asked as she approached Squall's side.

"Well, for one is that I never told them and two, they don't explore the palace that much."

"This sure is a nice place Squall. Thank you for showing Me." She spoke softly this time. She played with the sand and curled her toes on them, so that they would be able to dig into the sand.

_Wow, so I'm an addition to the people who know this place. _

"I wonder why it is here though." Rinoa muttered as she realized that there was a full moon tonight.

"Well I think the people who made this place, came from a place with lots of sandy beaches, since Esthar is in the desert you can only make one of these not find them." Squall replied while curling his own toes too.

But this time Rinoa didn't reply. She was busy staring up the night sky. Squall did the same, seeing that his raven haired companion was preoccupied with this feat. He found it relaxing to just listen to the waves and stare up the night sky.

He always did this; ever since he came across this place many years back. He was looking for some peace and quiet then when he had a naptime nightmare when he was a kid. He remembered his mom telling him that she was always calmed by the sounds of the waves crashing on the shore. He was pretty desperate then, or maybe his mom guided him to find this place, whichever the reason he's glad to have found this place.

"Look a shooting star!" Rinoa exclaimed, breaking Squall from his trance-like state. "Make a wish! Quick!"

"You still believ—"

"Shhh!" she shushed Squall as she went to close her eyes and made a wish.

After a while she reopened her eyes and smiled at Squall.

"Did you make a wish?" she asked him.

"Yeah." He answered.

"What did you wish for?" Squall asked Rinoa.

"I can't tell you! If I do then it won't come true!" she then laughed and lied down on the sand. "What about you Squall? What did you wish for?"

"Well it already came true so," he said as he looked into her eyes and went to turn over her. "So what is the point of wishing for it again?"

Rinoa blushed scarlet. _Oh my Hyne this is it! _But she just laughed and went to tickle Squall.

"Really now?" she teased. "Did you wish for this exact moment? I mean you being on top of me?"

"Yeah, but then not all of it has come true yet." He replied with a mischievous smile. "I still haven't closed the gap."

Rinoa realized what he was talking about, but it was already too late for realizations for now their lips were locked in place.

_Oh Hyne! This is it!_

* * *

Squall kissed Rinoa ever so gently, much like how the waves crashed to the shores. But not after long he parted his lips to let out his tongue; to feel, to taste Rinoa's. Rinoa was a bit hesitant to opening her mouth to him but she gave in to his searching tongue nonetheless. She parted her lips and almost instantly Squall's tongue went in to probe the entrails of her mouth. But Rinoa wasn't the one to be dominated; she rolled over Squall and made the kiss her own. She darted her own tongue into his maw; to explore and to discover what he tastes like. To her he tasted like honey with a hint of blueberry, yes that was how he tasted for Rinoa.

Seeing that Rinoa was so keen to take their passionate kissing to another level, Squall then untangled the ribbons on the back of Rinoa's dress, he untangled them one by one, taking his sweet time, not planning on rushing things. Finally, after much fiddling with the ribbons Rinoa's dress finally was ready to be taken off. Squall was now caressing her bare back, and was kissing her passionately as well. He then pulled down the dress from Rinoa's arms, fully divulging her bare front. While he kissed her neck, down the now newly exposed skin, Rinoa on the other hand started to moan. "Squall… I think…. "She shuddered as Squall then nibbled her ear lobe and whispered, "You think we should what?" he said his voice becoming husky from the lust and pleasure that he was feeling. He then continued his venture as he pulled down Rinoa's dress off her completely, leaving Rinoa with nothing more on, than her lacy underwear. Squall once again went to pay attention to Rinoa's mouth, kissing her harder and more fervently while his hands traveled to the small of Rinoa's back. She arched her back as she felt his balmy touch on her icy skin. As Squall reached his hands goal, he gently tugged on the lacy material. But this time Rinoa's hands intervened. "No… not yet…. "She said, her voice betraying her. Squall kissed her again and asked, "Do you really want me to stop?" this time looking at her straight in the eye. "Please, I… I'm not ready for this yet…not that I don't want to, it's just…"

Squall let out a sigh and nodded. He immediately ceased what he was doing. "Rinoa, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"No, it's my fault, I'm sorry, it's just that… um, I'm sorry, and it's not your fault okay? It's mine, I… I don't know, but it…it felt so good, and I… I don't…" she said as tears ran down her face.

Squall initially didn't know what to do. He just hugged her, keeping her safe, locked in his arms. "Shh, don't cry… it's not your fault, it's mine, I was too fast, I kept on…hush now, and I'm sorry Rin." He whispered to her ears as she cried on his chest.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled into his chest.

Squall just hugged her more tightly and kissed her on the forehead as a sign that he forgave her.

* * *

_A/N: i'm sorry! i just can't let it all happen now! LOL many to come :D more i tell you more! thanks for the reviews, keep em coming :) i promise they will eventually get to that xD  
_


	9. A New Found Happiness

_A/N: wow, two updates is two days thanks for the review i appreciate them. Fluffy is what i call my last chapter... i think this one might be one too. "" anyway chapter 9._

_disclaimer: i don't own SQuareEnix nor any of its characters,games, merchandise, etc. LOL_

**-**-Chapter 9—

_**A New Found Happiness**_

Squall continued to hush Rinoa to her composed self, while inside the great halls of the palace, people started searching for the new friend and star of the First Family: Rinoa.

Laguna was almost finished with his 45min long speech when he suddenly remembered her; the girl that helped them save the Gala and their family, Rinoa. He whispered to Ellone asking where Rinoa is and for Hyne knows, Squall too.

"Elle," he whispered inconspicuously to her ear. "Where are your brother and his girlfriend?" and then he gave his audience an apology and a final thank you.

"I don't know," Ellone replied while walking towards the small President's loft. "Last time I saw them was when you started to call me; and Rinoa is not his girlfriend."

"Oh, and I thought my son would've a new girlfriend, it's been a while huh?" Laguna thoughtfully said as he waved at the couple of children that were playing in the middle of the dance floor. "Oh, well where ever they are I just hope they'll be able to make it to my finale speech."

"There's another one of those lengthy speeches?" Ellone replied while giving her dad a cocked eyebrow. "Well, life… anyway since when did you care about him having a girlfriend? I'm always the one who gets to meet them not you."

"Well I just thought that this one might be a good change for him." He said obviously referring to Rinoa's arrival. "What about you Elle? Is Jason not coming?"

"No. He's in Dollet with his family. He's staying there for the whole summer…" Ellone said. "Haven't I informed you of that?"

"Well apparently you left it out… anyway, you better entertain some of the guests and make sure you have fun; there are a lot of things to celebrate tonight." He said as he dismissed his daughter and sent her to the now filled dance floor.

_I just wish that I could celebrate Squall's having a person in his life. _Laguna thought as he went to approach Ward.

"Ward, have you seen my son?" he asked the wall-like bald man. "I haven't seen him since my speech."

"Well he probably got bored." He replied as he offered Laguna some wine.

"Why thank you, red wine please." Laguna asked. "So have you seen him?" he replied a small thank you as Ward gave him his drink.

"Yeah, I saw him leave with his girlfriend, they went somewhere, I don't know, I just saw them leave." He said before he took a sip of scotch.

"Oh well." Laguna muttered as he took a sip of his own.

* * *

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Meanwhile the two missing people were busy trying to make sense of what just happened between the two of them.

"Squall," Rinoa muttered weakly. "I'm sorry for what happened I'm not sure but something in me said that we must stop this, it was just not the time."

"But, I swear it's not your fault." She added as she looked up at his face. She was still in her underwear and was now getting chills; Squall noticed this and placed his jacket on her. She muttered a thank you and decided to gather up her clothes. "I better should go home now, I mean, I ruined my dress and our night…" She said as she stood up and went to wear her shoes. "I'm sorry again and thank you for the coat." She gave him a smile and decided to get going.

"Rinoa wait." Squall suddenly said as he grabbed her wrist. "Please, I'm sorry myself, please don't go."

Rinoa, took sometime to consider this but decided that she better leave, because when she looked at her watch it was already a quarter past midnight, and she was officially a Cinderella turned into pumpkin now. "Squall, it is late, I should really get going, and auntie might be worried."

"Can you just call her and tell her you'll be staying here then?" Squall suggested.

"No, and I'm sorry." She said as she fiddled with her ribbons, Squall then helped her. "Thanks, I wonder how the hell Matilda finished this dress in a matter of minutes, and it has intricate designs too!" She said as she looked once again on the beaded bottom.

"Well you see Elle always had problems with her dresses in the last minute, I think Matilda got used to them." Squall replied while spinning Rinoa around to see if she was all set to go. "There all done."

"You know Squall; you always say that to me, like I'm a little kid." Rinoa said giving him an awkward smile.

"HAHA. Well I guess it cannot be helped." He replied as he went to open the door back to palace. "Why not I take you back home?" he asked as they walked.

"Well, sure thing, I'm sure auntie would want someone to take care of me while I puke endlessly to the night because of someone's driving." Rinoa teased as she ran past Squall towards the door, that's when her heel broke and she tumbled down, like a doll without its stand. Thankfully she hit a post which stopped her from completely rolling down towards the open door. "OWWWWW!!" She was laughing when Squall finally caught up with her.

"Rinoa! Are you alright?" Squall asked as he saw her laughing.

"That was fun!" she exclaimed as he helped her up. "Oh no, I broke a heel." She then realized the stiletto heel snapped and was broken into two.

"These were Ellone's! Oh no…"

"Look, don't worry about those. I'll tell Ellone what happened." Squall said this as he checked Rinoa's head and joints. When Rinoa heard this she wondered and panicked. _Oh no tell her WHAT happened??_

"Ugh, tell her what exactly?" she asked while trying to soothe her wounded knee. _Dammit this knee is not making things easier for me! _

"Tell her that you broke the heel and that I needed to rush you to the clinic; but seeing that the palace clinic was closed we went to my room to tend to it." Squall said as he saw the now, bleeding open wound. _Whew! I thought… never mind then._

"You know this wound is pretty big, can you walk?"

"Well, let us see." Rinoa replied as she let go of Squall's arm and tried to walk. "Well I can definitely stand… but walking I'm…" she was cut off in the middle of her statement when she toppled downwards.

"Obviously you can't." Squall exasperated, as he caught her by the arm. "C'mon I'll carry you."

_Huh? What does he mean he'll carry me??_

"I said c'mon Rin." He was telling her to hold on to his neck or his shoulders so that he'd be able to carry her; after all she wasn't at all heavy. "Okay, you won't hold on?"

"Then we'll have it my way." He said as he hauled Rinoa on his shoulders butt facing front and face looking back. Rinoa laughed hysterically as Squall walked towards the door.

"HAHA, you seem to be having fun back there." Squall commented as he reached the staircase to the foyer, which was now filled with people. Rinoa recognized the place and told Squall about it. "Squall! You're heading straight to the foyer! Be reminded that you're carrying ME!" she hissed.

"Oh yeah, I thought I was carrying a rag doll or something that died, you sure are quiet." He added as he backtracked to find a more "discrete" route for them.

* * *

­

As Squall finally reached his room, he kicked open the door and threw Rinoa on his bed. "Stay put, I'll go get something to treat your wound." And he left to go into his bathroom.

_Wow, this guy sure is vain. _

Rinoa thought of this as she saw the wide variety of cologne, aftershave, shaving cream, razors, scissors, and lots more. It was definitely a vain man's room; not only did he not need 3 kinds of shaving creams but also a huge stone-like thing! It was almost 1ft high! _What the hell is that? It's huge!_

Squall came back with a first aid kit in hand and told Rinoa to sit on the edge. "Good thing I still kept this, I was planning on throwing it out." He commented as he pulled out a cotton ball and some alcohol from the kit. He started dabbing Rinoa's knee with alcohol, surprisingly Rinoa was tolerating the pain quite well. "You know Rin, I never saw a cheerleader as clumsy as you." He commented.

Rinoa just stuck a tongue out and said, "Well, now you have! Would you like a picture and an autograph?" she teased.

Squall thought for a while, and answered, "No, I don't think I would need that" he said as he placed a gauze pad on the now clean wound. Rinoa muttered a thank you and asked, "Why not??"

"Well why have those when I have the clumsy cheerleader with me?" Squall asked her while cleaning up his kit.

"Hmm… let's see…" she replied as she tried to bend her knee. "Maybe she doesn't want to stay with you."

Squall turned to face her and then cocked an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked in a nonchalant way.

"Yeah REALLY." Rinoa widened her eyes when she spoke and it was quite funny, if Squall saw it; but sadly, or not, he already left what he was doing and was tickling Rinoa crazy forcing her to take those words back. "Take back what you just said," he said while threatening to tickle her again. "Or else."

Rinoa was laughing too much to actually make a sensible answer so instead she just gave him a push and tried to roll out of harm's way. Too bad for her he was quick; he caught her by the arm and went to put her back in place. This time Rinoa gave out a yelp.

"So you really don't want to take it back?" he asked while straddling Rinoa like he did Ellone earlier. Rinoa just shook her head and laughed. "Okay then, you leave me no choice but to do this." And then he kissed her.

She kissed him back and in a few minutes they were both laughing and were playing around on the bed. "Fine, I take it back!" Rinoa said as Squall was trying to tickle her again, making her cower to the wall. "Good." Then Squall went to grab her by the shoulders to embrace her.

Rinoa tried to wriggle her way out, saying that it was already nearing 1AM when she noticed the huge thing again. This time she asked him what it was. "Squall," trying to stop Squall from crushing her, "hey, what's that?" she said pointing to the stone-like thing. Squall's attention was now focused on what she was pointing at. "Oh that?"

Rinoa nodded. "Well that's a gunblade sharpener." Seeing that Rinoa didn't know what he was talking about he decided he'd have to explain. "You use it to maintain the sharpness of your gunblade. It was a gift from my dad when I was starting military school."

_So he came from a military school….OH! That would explain his not attending his graduation ceremony!_

"So you use a gunblade for a weapon?" she asked.

"Yeah, wanna see it?" Squall said not believing that Rinoa knew what she was talking about. **Well, better make sure she understands before it creates other conflicts.**

Squall left Rinoa on the bed and went inside his cabinet. He searched the bottom part for a black suitcase with a silver lion engraved on it. "Wow, it's in there?" she asked feeling a bit childish herself. Squall just nodded and continued opening the locks. Then when it was finally opened Rinoa went to his side to look at it closely. She was about to touch the fire design engraved on it when Squall caught her hand. "Careful, you don't want to get cut."

Rinoa nodded and settled to just touch the silver lion keychain attached to handle. The keychain was similar to the design on the front. "So this is a gunblade…" she said as she touched the leather handle. "It's heavy." Then she laughed as she tried to lift it off its case.

"Yep it is heavy. And not to mention, dangerous; I'll show it to you some other time, why not I take you home now?" Squall asked her.

Rinoa was still busy ogling at the gunblade to notice Squall. So he thought he'd better ask her again. "Noa, I said I'll take you home now."

"Awww… really?" Rinoa whined like a little girl not wanting to leave. Squall found this adorable and quickly searched for his phone; he was gonna call her aunt. Rinoa noticed what he was doing and tried to stop him, but she failed miserably when her aunt answered the phone call.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Good evening, this is Squall." He said.

"Oh, hello Squall. Having fun there at the Gala? I hope my niece isn't too much trouble."

"No, not really she's as behaved as an angel." Rinoa shot Squall a look of hate when he just smiled at her and mouthing, "Be quiet."

"Oh is that so, well it is getting kind of late and I may not be able to open the door for her since I am way sleepy. Will you press the infamous doorbell when you arrive dear?" her aunt said on the other line.

"Well, I don't really want to be a bother… I was wondering if she could stay here for the night and then go back home in a more suitable hour." Squall said this while trying to cover Rinoa's mouth to stop her from talking.

"Hmm…it's okay with me, if it is okay with the two of you."

"Well no problem with me, I just don't know with Rinoa…" he replied.

"Well, is she there with you now?"

"no."

"I'll just send her an SMS telling her to stay there until tomorrow morning."

"Okay then, I'll tell her then too. Thank you."

"No, thank you. Goodnight."

"Yes, goodbye." And with that Squall shut his cellphone off and let go of Rinoa's mouth.

Rinoa was shocked that her auntie agreed to Squall that fast! _What the hell, what's the deal with him and smoooooooooth words… _

"So, why not we go back down to the hall, I mean there is a party…" he said finally.

Rinoa just nodded and looked at herself in the mirror. "OH!" She realized she can't go down to the party just yet. Her hair was a mess, her dress is a tad bit dirty, not to mention her lipstick was smudged; smudged in a way that could easily be said as kissing.

She went to fix her hair up but letting it loose, making it fall on her face and curl at the edges, it looked nice, but it her make up was another thing. She told Squall that she'll be right back and locked herself in his bathroom.

**Women, I wonder why they always shut themselves inside the bathroom. **

When Rinoa got out of the bathroom she looked better and way normal. "Well, how do I look?" she said while smiling goofily at Squall.

"Like a kid, c'mon I'm sure no one will notice your uneven heels." He said as he threw the stilettos to Rinoa.

"Oh no, the shoes… well then I just have to deal." And with that Squall removed the other not broken shoe and broke its heel. "There, now it's even."

She was now wearing flats and it looked kind of funny but she didn't care anymore, she went to pull Squall and go back to the party.

* * *

Back at the Great Hall, everybody was having a lot of fun and not to mention a lot more creative since they all made masks to make the Gala seem like a masquerade. Laguna was starting to get drunk and Ellone was getting sick of Irene's impetuous questions about where her "pony" is.

"Look Irene," Ellone said, finally getting full and pissed at the 16yr old. "Don't you think you're too old to think about ponies and such other childish things?"

Irene found this answer annoying as Ellone found her. She answered, "Well no, and I am not referring to my "pony" as something childish, it is like a pet name."

_Oh boy, Squall will kick this kid if he heard that sprung from her mouth. _

Ellone laughed at the thought and Irene thought she was laughing at her, thus, making her go red with anger. When she was finally going to say something to Ellone, Laguna yelled as he noticed the entrance of Squall and Rinoa.

Everyone in the Great hall turned their heads to see who just arrived and they all smiled when they saw that it was them. _Oh great, I think I might just hurl from all this attention!_ Rinoa thought as they entered the ballroom. "Here's a mask for you and," a man said as he gave Squall a black mask. "And this, is for the young lady." He said as he handed Rinoa a blue mask with glitters and feathers. Rinoa muttered a thank you and went to rush to Ellone's side.

Ellone, wanting to leave Irene, decided to meet her brother and Rinoa half way. "Well, s'bout time you both got here. Where have you been?" she asked Squall. "It's been an hour since you guys left; I thought you turned into pumpkins." She added jokingly.

"Don't worry, we won't turn into pumpkins." Squall said while offering a hand to Ellone. "Why don't I make it up to you by taking you to the dance floor?"

"Well now, I never knew you'd be such a gentleman." Ellone commented as she stared at his hand.

"Seeing that your boy-toy wasn't able to make it… I'll be your partner to your favorite song." Squall persisted on offering his hand and gave Rinoa a slight wink.

"Hmm… this is my favorite song it'll be a waste not to dance to it."

"Good. Let's go." Squall said as he took his sister by the hand and went straight to the dance floor. "We'll be right back!"

* * *

Rinoa had fun watching the siblings dance; they playfully punched each other while dancing. _It seems they're having the time of their lives._ Rinoa thought as she went to the bar to get herself something to drink. "One martini, dry" she said to the bartender.

Whilst waiting for her drink a familiar face approached her. _Is this the Duchess' niece? Oh shoot too many things happened that I am not even sure who I am seeing! _As the familiar figure approached her, the bartender gave Rinoa her drink. Rinoa muttered a small thank you and when she faced front, she was shocked to see the familiar person staring at her.

"So, I never got what your name was." She said in a polite manner. "My name is Irene; I am the niece of the Duchess of Cerulean."

Rinoa was quite taken aback by the sudden introduction and hesitated to answer. "Well I never gave you my name didn't I? My name is Rinoa." She offered a hand to shake but Irene just nodded and proceeded to order a long island.

"Are you sure you are old enough to drink that?" Rinoa asked hearing what she wanted to order.

"Well, technically no, but seeing as my aunt is now drunk, she won't really care." She replied while taking a sip of her drink. "You know I haven't seen you around in the past galas… are you new here? Because it is impossible for me to have missed you when everyone here can't even take their eyes off you." She said that with a hint of bitterness in her friendly tone.

"So, I see your pretty close with my pony…?" Irene said while looking at the dancing siblings.

_Her pony? Is she talking about Squall?_

"Excuse me I don't quite get what you're saying… your pony?" Rinoa asked perplexed.

"Yes, Squall." She said while turning to face Rinoa. "My pony."

_What the hell is this kid crazy?_

"Squall's my pony; he's always been since we were small. Although he was older than me, we always played together." She said.

"Really now, it's funny he never mentioned you until now." Rinoa knew where this was going, this was the infamous Irene after all, and this little girl wants to make Rinoa jealous about her "relationship" with Squall. _This brat probably has a crush on Squall; well too bad for her… she's getting to my nerves too. _

"Well, I guess since he never mentioned you," Rinoa said, "Because you aren't that much important to him."

Exactly after Rinoa said this, the song ended. Ellone and Squall were now making their way back. Rinoa was busy looking at the siblings to even notice Irene's flushed face. She was angry alright.

Rinoa went to greet the siblings when Ellone suddenly winked at her and said, "Don't worry he told me everything its okay, I mean for the shoes." She then gave her a hug and whispered, "And I know the other thing too." Then she winked.

"Oh! Thank you?" Rinoa said while she gave Squall a tentative smile.

"There you go again with that comment." Ellone said while shaking her head. "Well Squall," she took notice of her little brother that was grinning behind Rinoa. "Why not take Rinoa to the dance floor since we're already quits."

Squall was a bit shaken by Ellone's sudden notice of him so he just nodded and offered Rinoa his hand. "Well, do you want to dance with me?" he asked.

Rinoa hugged Squall and whispered, "Haven't I done more things with you besides this?" she then laughed. She pulled Squall by the arm to the center of the dance floor. "Hey!"

Rinoa smiled and said, "Hey what? It's my turn to lead since you've been leading me since the speech." As the sweet music played and the lights dimmed, Squall and Rinoa lessened the gap between them. "Hey, there's this kid, a 16 year old…" she said as she looked 'round if the kid was watching, turns out she was.

"Yeah I know, Irene?" Squall rolled his eyes and then he had formulated a perfect plan to rid of Irene and his father's usual "Get-A-Girl" phrases. "Rin, follow my lead one last time tonight. Please?" he asked the last part tentatively. "Okay, just don't do anything stupid."

He laughed and steered Rinoa to the middle-middle of the dance floor, where the moonlight was the spotlight for the couple. They remained there talking until when the song was coming to an end… Squall tightened his grip on Rinoa's back and hand. "What's the big…?" Rinoa's question was cut short as the music died down and found herself in Squall's embrace and their lips were locked together in a sweet kiss. All the people ogled, Irene spewed her Long Island to run to her aunt, Ellone was smiling broadly and Laguna… Well Laguna spit his drink all over Kiros, for everyone to see, but no one really cared for now all eyes were focused on the two lovers kissing on the moonlit dance floor.

* * *

_A/N: so what the heck did you think? i was hella bored here so i wrote a friggin chapter, xD anyway R&R thanks lavyah! more to come. :) _


	10. A Blunder Well Kept

_A/N: so this is my tenth chapter, sorry it took me a while, i mean it took me months! not to write this but to find the time. been hella busy with school and the like. :) i dont think this one is anything like my past chapter XD but what the heck :) _

_**Disclaimer:** i do not own square enix, if i did, i wont be studying anymore xD_

--**Chapter 10****—**

_**A Blunder Well Kept**_

Rinoa was shocked. She didn't know how to react to the gesture that Squall was now showing. He kissed her! In front of the whole Estharian Elites! She was surely surprised and not to mention, weak in the knees. Thankfully Squall was holding onto her or else she might have fallen on the floor. She can't help but feel embarrassed by the position she was in now.

Her hand was on the sides of Squall's face like trying to hold on and at the same time trying to push him away, her body is bent backwards and her whole weight was only supported by Squall's grasp. Trying with the utmost effort to stand up, she was detained in that position by Squall. Her frail attempts to break free from his hold were only emphasized by her whimpering on his lips. As a reaction to this Squall even deepened the kiss and at this point Rinoa was failing an attempt to hide her giggles.

_This is soooooo wrong! This will turn up on the papers for sure! My aunt will know and then my mom will know, then if they both know… I'll be back in Deling in a snap!_

This time Squall broke the kiss and gave her bewildered expression. "What's up with the giggles Rin?"

Rinoa just shook her head and then looked at the ogling audience. "Uh oh, we've really done it this time." She whispered to Squall's ear as she turned scarlet red with embarrassment.

Laguna tried to wipe off the spilled wine on Kiros's suit, as he apologized nonstop. Ellone on the other hand was still smiling as she swept her dress with the utmost fluidity and gracefulness, and captured the attention of most of the audience, as she carved her way to the dance floor. "Well that certainly is a something, right brother?" she said as she winked at her brother and Rinoa. "But don't let that spoil, influence or intrigue your night, for it is young and there are lots more to be done!"

And with that a sudden blast of house music filled the dance floor, as the lights grew dim and the people began to feel the rhythm.

Rinoa went to Ellone's side, finally escaping Squall's hold, and thanked her for the "distraction" or "diversion" that she made.

"No worries Rinoa, I am happy to be of help to you guys. Now Squall," she added as she saw her brother come into view from Rinoa's back. "As for you, take care of Rinoa okay? Don't you dare make a wrong move because it's not only her heart you'll break but also your family's name and honor." She whispered the last part dangerously into Squall's ear, and this made his spine shiver.

**Wow she really is serious about this. **

He gave Ellone a goofy smile and hugged her. "Listen Ellone, I promised you a long time ago that I won't ruin the family name on purpose, and I never really lived up to it, now I will, I promise." He added as he gave her a pat on the back and went to go to their father.

**Oh boy, I wonder what he has to say to me now. **

"You seem to be enjoying yourself dad." Squall said as he reached the President's loft. Laguna hastily turned away from Kiros and went to hug Squall. "I knew my boy wouldn't be womanless for long! I mean with a cut like you, it's just impossible!" Laguna was the happiest person in the room, except for Rinoa.

_Damn what would my aunt say when she sees this in the paper tomorrow?? _

As the party ended and the people were now dispersing, Squall went to talk to his friends that were also invited, and left Rinoa to finally think of what was happening to her. She went to the balcony to stare at the night sky…she was considering staying there until the morning but decided against it.

"Hey Rinoa, why are you so tense?" Ellone suddenly crept up behind her while she was intently staring out the open window.

Rinoa cocked an eyebrow at her for shocking her and for the out of the blue question. "I am not tense, Ellone. I'm just bothered by the thought of me being with a guy like Squall."

Ellone went to join her on the balusters and situated herself just beside her. "Hmm… Why would you, of all the people, be bothered by my own brother?"

"I don't know, probably because he's someone of the Elite class and I am just mediocre,"

"I mean here in Esthar." She added as Ellone gave her a questioning look.

"It doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, I and our father do not judge anyone by their looks or their standing in life, I mean, even if my boyfriend IS a male model for Juggernaut."

_juggernaut is a famous brand of clothing in Esthar, only people of Elite linage can become models or designers for the brand._

"Look Noa, we're not about to kick you out of the house just because my brother kissed you in public, I mean I've had my share of blunders too you know."

"Really?" Rinoa was now curious as ever as Ellone explained her "blunder".

"Well you see when I was in your age, I had a boyfriend and dad didn't know anything about it, only Squall knew."

"We were dating then," she looked up at the sky dreamily as she recalled the memory of the night. "And it was super past my curfew, and hell, I was panicking like hell."

"Too bad for me, we went to the movies then and I told my dad that I would be home before curfew," she continued. Rinoa listened intently as she unfolded her blunder.

"My curfew was 10:00pm but it was already 12:00am then. Traffic was not a problem, but the making out… well who knew it was hard to stop that?" then she laughed at the memory.

"So you got caught?"

"Nope I didn't. I arrived home at about 3:00am, and Squall picked me up from the gate of the palace."

"My boyfriend then didn't want to leave me just like that and said he wanted to come inside."

She pulled her head back as she laughed at the memory.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh you'll find out." And with that she continued with her story.

"_Hey Elle, I'm sorry but I forgot to tune the car before leaving the house." Emmett whispered into my ears "It's okay, just don't get caught!" He laughed as he stole another kiss from my already chapped lips. _

"_Sis, Dad's going to check up on our rooms in a few minutes! Just go back out when he's done!" _

_I won't budge from my position even as Squall tugged at my arm. "No you go on ahead," I shooed him to into the house. "I'll stay here, he'll think I just went to the bathroom or something, I never create blunders remember?" _

_I pushed my little brother to the cavernous entrance of the house, and asked him to stall if he could. I just hope Dad doesn't punish him for my evil deed. As Squall went up the stairs I went to open the gate to let Emmett in. I gave him a small peck on the lips before pulling him into the estate before the gates finally closed. "Let's go in from the kitchen entrance, it's nearer my room." I said as we sped up on the huge lawn of our estate. "Elle, you know I could just see you tomorrow and I could call you up on your phone, you don't need to get caught," _

"_Don't be silly Emmett, I won't get caught!" I said confidently as I pushed the entrance to the kitchens to find that it was crowded with maids. "At this hour?!" I gasped. "Why are you all still doing up?" I said as I gave Emmett a signal to stay behind the wall. "Well, miss, we're just having a conference. We all thought you were in your room studying." "I went out for a walk, or a run." I made up as I saw my panting self in the mirror. "Look, you don't have to tell my father about this okay?" _

_They all sighed at me and said in unison: " He won't know, he's busy with his friends, he's drinking, but we believe he will still do his rounds, so miss, we beg you to go to your room now."_

"_We wouldn't want you to get hurt." One of the servant boys told me as he pulled me in the kitchen and went to shut the door. Oh no, Emmett. "Wait! I'm with someone, can he come in too?" I told him as I pulled the door open to call Emmett. "Jun, this is Emmett" "Emmett…Jun" I gave them a small intro and then sprinted with them at my wake to go straight to my room. "Whew," I said as I went into my room, which was the first door to my left. "Whew, to you too young lady," suddenly a voice spoke from the darkness. I was horror struck as I recognized the low, calming voice that I heard. "DAD! What are you doing in my room?" I asked trying to sound casual and not even trying to open the lights as I know Emmett was just behind me and when I open the lights my dad would surely see. "Well, this is my room, so why wouldn't I be in here?" oh shoot, I totally forgot my room was on the first door, TO THE RIGHT! I punched myself in my head as I tried to approach dad. "Who's with you Elle?" he asked stopping me in my tracks. "A friend, "I told him super casually. "He's here to help me study astrology." Good work I thought. "But you're not taking up astrology, Hun." I was starting to sweat even more and my grip on Emmett's hands tightened. "You're not even supposed to be awake right now." _

"So then what happened?" Rinoa was now as absorbed in the story as Ellone is. "Did he punish you for it?"

"Yeah I was punished big time!" Ellone then laughed as she recalled what else happened then."

"Dad found out of Emmett and ordered that his family be kept in the mostly-watched-families-of-Esthar's list, which eventually pushed Emmett's family to their limits and they moved out of the city." She said as she glanced at Rinoa's side. "Well, he didn't even say goodbye, sorry if my blunder isn't as big as Squall's but I sure am trying!" She then laughed and then finally said, "I better go inside now, and you know I gotta go clean up."

"Sure thing, Elle," Rinoa said as she went to face back again. "Thanks for sharing."

"No problem." Ellone replied with as she muffled a yawn. "I better get started."

As Ellone left Rinoa thought of how many or how bad were the blunders that Squall made to put Ellone's to shame. She laughed as she tried to picture the worst case scenarios, like Squall running around Esthar as a protest, or if he killed someone, impregnated a woman and then pushed for abortion…. She shuddered as she thought of the last one.

"I hope he didn't." she muttered to herself just before she was carried off the ledge by someone. She let out a shrill scream which was only muffled by her kidnapper's hands.

"Let go of me!" Rinoa wriggled to break free. "I will scream again if you don't let me go!"

She tried to bite her assailant's arms, but to no avail, she bit his hands. He let out a gasp of pain and even cursed as he let Rinoa go and went to soothe his now swollen hand. "You didn't have to bite me you know?"

Rinoa blushed scarlet and then burst into a fit of giggles as she approached her "assailant". "Then you shouldn't have surprised me like that!"

"Well you were so serious and then you suddenly say something so I figured I should shake you up a bit to break the trance." Squall explained as he handed his swollen hand to Rinoa.

Rinoa took a look at the hand and stuck out a tongue at Squall. She barely dodged Squall's hand when it came to grab at her chin to make her look at him. But when Squall tried again he succeeded, because then she was preoccupied with his wound.

"Look Noa," he said as he made her look at him. "What were you talking about when I found you here?"

"Nothing much, I mean, Ellone shared some things but after that I was thinking of my aunt." She lied as she tried her hardest to look at Squall.

"Okay then, I just wanted to tell you, you'll be sleeping in my room." He said as he carried her on his arms, which caught her off guard.

"Wait! What's with the carrying? I could WALK you know!" she protested weakly in his arms, but in between the protests, a yawn escaped her.

"You're beat Rin, I'll carry you to my room, I think the maids placed clothes there to sleep in." He said as he went on his way to his room. "And don't worry we won't do anything stupid. Promise." He added as he saw the look on her face when he said they were going to sleep in the same room.

"Yeah you better behave you--" and with that Rinoa fell asleep.

**So she didn't know how sleepy she was… or is she just narcoleptic? Haha I guess she's just tired. **

Squall placed her on the bed and decided that she shouldn't be woken up, so he got dressed and settled himself on the couch.

* * *

_A/N: so what do you think? i told you it wasn't like the others! but please R &R love much!! sorry to take so long on the update! :D ashikarazu!! xD_


	11. Good Morning Rinoa

_A/N: hey guys i'm back once again this time with my 11th chapter. i've been hella busy (again) with school but this time i found the time to write. i'm currently writing another story, which would be an original story from me. ;) anyway this is the latest chapter and i hope you enjoy it xD_

_Disclaimer: sadly i do not own FF8 nor SquareEnix. i do own the story i am simultaneously working on ;) _

-Chapter 11-

**_Good Morning Rinoa _**

The magical night was now over for the couple who are now fast asleep. The dawn was breaking in when sleep finally overcame Squall. He fell asleep on the couch where he decided to sleep last night, since the last night was tiring and extremely intriguing Squall was knocked out cold, pretty much like Rinoa.

Squall was very sure he had fallen asleep on the couch, so when he felt himself move to the left he was very sure that the landing wouldn't be good. But as he opened his eyes, he didn't even fall, nor even close to falling. He was on the bed with Rinoa and he didn't know how he ended up there!

**What the hell?? What am I doing here?? I thought I fell asleep on the couch… or did I move from there to here by sleepwalk? Shoot! **

Rinoa gave a small moan as she shifted her position squashing her face into his chest. Squall's body tensed with the contact but after a while it relaxed as he wrapped his arms on Rinoa. She cuddled even more in response to his gesture. Sleep was overcoming Squall again and he decided to leave her side before he completely falls asleep thinking that sleepwalking might not be the only talent he has when he is asleep. As he tried to get up Rinoa tugged on his shirt and whispered something inaudible.

"Rin, I gotta go, I'm going to transfer to the couch." He whispered into her ears as he tried to loosen her grip on his shirt.

"No, no, no..." she said as she crushed her whole weight into Squall's chest. "Stay here, with me; you won't do anything I am sure about it."

"You seem pretty confident with that presumption when in fact you're only half awake." Squall laughed, and tried, again, to leave. This time Rinoa didn't want to lose. She tried to shake herself to wake and tried to climb on top of him. "Now, I have you, you can't leave." She said as she half smiled, half yawned. "Really?" he challenged as he lifted her up with ease and carefully placed her right beside him. "Seems like I could get out after all."

"No!" Rinoa then lunged at him but missed and hit the pillow instead. She cursed on the pillow and decided to use her "femininity" to get the better out of this situation. She lied down and tried to "seduce" Squall into coming back to bed with her, but it still didn't work. Squall was trained in a military academy and he knew how to handle these things, so he just covered her up with a fleece blanket and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Goodnight, 'Noa."

"Aww…"

_Hmph! It didn't even work even a bit! Oh well I guess it's better this way. _

Squall settled himself on the couch again and let the "ZZZZs" take over.

* * *

The next morning Rinoa got up earlier than Squall and decided to settle herself at the foot of Squall's couch. She turned the TV-o on and waited for him to wake. Rinoa settled to watch Barney and decided she better get something to cushion her ass as she realized that the carpet was NOT as soft as she thought.

"This carpet may look nice but it's so not as hell as comfortable as my carpet in Deling!" she muttered as she looked for a pillow. As she searched for one she suddenly felt home sick and sad._ Aww I miss my room, my shaggy carpet, my cavernous closet…. I miss DELING!_ She thought as she finally found a small enough pillow.

She settled herself back at the bottom of the couch and watched as the freaky purple dinosaur sing "…I love you, you love me, we're a happy family…"

"I love you, you love me…" she sang but before she was finished singing someone stole the last line from her. "Let's go out and kill Barney." Goosebumps went up her spine as she was shocked to hear someone else, but this was soon replaced by a giggle and an ecstatic attitude.

"Squall!!" She screamed, although not necessary which was pointed out by Squall's huge eyes and recoiled position.

"Jeez, I bet even the tiniest hair in my ears would be sure to die from a shrill like that!" He commented as he carefully tried to sit up and mess his hair, which was unnecessary given the condition it was in now.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean it. I mean I did but c'mon! You scared the hell outta me!" Rinoa said as she pushed Squall lightly on the shoulder. "Hey I just sang. Last I checked there was no rule in Esthar that prevents me from doing that." Squall said still trying to clear his head from the scream.

"Look, I'm sorry." Then she gave him the puppy dog stare, although Squall tried to resist the temptation of tickling her, a smile was still able to escape. "It's okay, Noa."

"Great!" she exclaimed as she stood up and tugged on his arm. "Let's eat! I'm hungry!" Squall was led to his feet by the strong pull that the raven haired girl was able to muster. "Hey, hey, hey! Slow down!" he said as he clambered off the couch. "There's always food here, we never run out you know."

Rinoa just rolled her eyes and decided to tug even harder as she led him out of the room. "Hey it's 8am!" Squall said as they passed by the digital clock on the wall opposite Squall's room. "Yeah, so?" she replied as she raised an eyebrow at Squall. "It's still early! And considering that we slept at about 3am… this is not right!" He said as he stopped on his tracks and went to pull the little woman leading the way. As he did Rinoa was unprepared for the pull and went straight into his chest. "Lukmmmuall…" she said against his chest. "What did you say again?" Squall asked.

"I said," she replied as she tried to fix herself up from the ordeal she just had. "Look, so what if it's early?"

"One of the rules here in the palace every after events…" he said as he pulled away from Rinoa. "Is never expect anyone, and I mean ANYONE to be awake." Rinoa just stared at him. "Even the maids." He added as he saw the speculation in Rinoa's stare.

"Oh…hey that's not a rule!" she exclaimed as she pulled at his arm and went back to his bedroom. "That's a FACT!" she finished as the door closed silently behind Squall.

"Rules ARE facts, in the place they govern at least." He sighed as he went straight for the bed. He let his whole weight fall on the bed, and it made the whole thing rattle for a while. Rinoa waited for the mattress to settle down before she climbed on the other side of the bed. "mooknoaihhyoooammmunggrgetfooomatfridge." Squall murmured against his pillow, which was followed by a yawn. Rinoa laughed and tickled him. "What did you say??" she said.

"I said," Squall said as he rolled on his back to find himself face to face with Rinoa. "if you're hungry there's food in the fridge, right there." He said as he pointed to the mini fridge he had right beside his stereo. Rinoa pecked him on the lips and said thank you, before climbing down the bed to get some food. "Since you're already up, why don't you get yourself fixed up so that when I wake up, again, I'll just need to get my keys and then head to your house?"

"Hmm, yeah sure." Rinoa said absentmindedly as she scavenged for some grub in the tiny fridge. "TADA!" she exclaimed as she showed Squall the bag of chips she found in the corner of the fridge. He just gave her a smile and then dozed off.

As Rinoa munched on the chips, a knock was heard in the room next door. And it seemed urgent. She stood up from the couch and went out to check it out. As she peeped through the small crack that she opened on the door, she saw two servants: one, a guy, was the one knocking on the door, and the other one, a little girl, was as white as a sheet of paper. _ I wonder what's wrong this time. _She thought as she went out to the corridor to find out.

"What's the matter?" she asked the servant. "Is something wrong?"

"Trouble has spread in the kitchens, the chef, Messieurs Renaldo has fainted half an hour ago and is not responding to anything we do," he said haphazardly. "Madame, you would do well to clothe yourself, appropriately." He added as he tried to smile at Rinoa.

Rinoa then realized she was only wearing Squall's soccer uniform and his boxers. _Shoot! I totally forgot I was in his clothes! _Rinoa blushed but waved it off. "Don't mind my clothes, what is it that you need with Ellone?"

This time the little girl replied. "You see, Miss Ellone, she can cure people." She gulped and wasn't able to stop the tears from falling. "This is his daughter, Sophie. She was there when her father fainted; she panicked and won't leave his side. I only persuaded her so that the others may tend to his needs."

"I see, so Elle can do that." Rinoa replied thoughtfully but soon realized she'll wake Ellone for them. She banged on the door and yelled: "ELLONE! WAKE UP! I NEED YOU TO GET UP NOW!" Rinoa was pretty sure she'd woken up almost everyone in the hall but she didn't care. When the door finally creaked open she stopped the banging and let the servant boy talk.

He explained everything to Ellone and without further adieu she went straight to kitchen with Rinoa at their wake. Rinoa decided to take care of Sophie as Elle tried to revive Renaldo. "Is papa going to be okay?" Sophie asked Rinoa, as they both saw all the spells that Ellone casted upon the fallen chef.

Rinoa just nodded at Sophie and told her, "It'll be okay, don't worry, Ellone will be able to fix him up in no time." She hugged the now sobbing girl and tried to soothe her. Ellone was speaking gibberish while her eyes where closed and her hand was over Renaldo's forehead.

_I wonder if Ellone studied magic extensively… I mean those are pretty complicated spells._

After ten grueling minutes the chef was now sitting up and was thanking Ellone profusely. "Thank you my dear, thank you."

"No problem, thank Luis here, if he didn't come get me any sooner well, we would still be reviving you right now." Ellone replied and gave him a warm smile. Sophie then broke loose from Rinoa's hold to rush to her father's arms. "Papa! Don't you ever scare me like that!" she sobbed into her father's sleeve. "I won't I promise."

"Look, next time, don't over do it Renaldo, take a break, be late, it's okay there is no rule here that says you're not allowed to rest." Ellone then patted him on the back. "You're off for the whole week, on me. Take a break, go home for a change." She smiled and went to help him stand up.

"Thank you so much, Miss Ellone." Sophie exclaimed as she gave Ellone a hug.

"No problem."

_Wow, Ellone sure is good at what she did. _

Rinoa stared at the event that was now happening in front of her as Ellone approached her and said, "Thanks for helping them out." Then she smiled. "C'mon let's go back, since I'm already up might as well start my day."

They both ascended up the side staircase of the palace, which led directly to the sleeping quarters. Rinoa kept on glancing at Ellone and was quite curious on how come she was that good with magic. "Look Noa, I know you are curious on why I am so good at magic." Ellone said as she went ahead of Rinoa. "It's because I studied it a long, long time ago. Squall did too, but he never got obsessed with it as I did."

"So you studied it? But you can't be that good, even if you practice everyday or know all the incantations, I mean you can only be THAT good, if you have magical lineage!" Rinoa exclaimed. Ellone just laughed and told her to just ask Squall about it when she gets the chance, and then went into her own room to get ready for the day.

Rinoa did the same thing, she went into Squall's room, to find him snoring, and went straight to the bathroom. She opened the shower and was looking for something to wear.

_Hmm, I wonder if he'd mind me borrowing his clothes… 'Cause I sure don't have anything to wear. _

As Rinoa searched his cabinet for some clothes, a knocking sound came from the door. Rinoa decided to check it out and left what she was doing. She opened the door to fine Ellone with some clothes in her arms. "Look I figured since you just crashed here without any warning, you won't have any clothes, so I brought you some." She said as she offered the bunch of clothes for Rinoa to take. "Thanks Elle, you're a life saver! I was thinking borrowing some of Squall's but all I found were some spandex shirts and a bunch of black and white polo shirts!"

Ellone laughed at her statement and said that she'd better get ready for lunch, since the time of breakfast has passed. "So make sure you're ready when I call you again okay? And make sure he's also prepped up." And then she shut the door and went back to her room.

Rinoa went back to the bathroom and proceeded with her bath. After she was done with her bath,she was wearing a mini skirt that had gold trimmings and some beading on the left side, she also wore a lavender tank top, and some flip flops. She decided to call her aunt to tell her she'd be coming home by 3pm that day. "Hey Auntie!"

The voice on the other end seemed to be panicking. "Don't worry auntie, he'll take me back there, it's just that Laguna wanted me to stay for lunch." Then the voice seemed to calm down and then just bade her goodbye and then the line went dead.

_Hmm, I'd better wake this guy up…._"HIYAAA!!" Rinoa yelled as she jumped on top of Squall and gave him a kiss on the nose. "'Wakey wakey sleeping beauty!"

Squall groaned and said, "Sleeping beauty is supposed to be a girl." He then sat up and placed Rinoa on the other side of the bed and went to stand up without a word and went to the bathroom.

_Well, that's different. He must really hate the way I woke him up. Haha (-.-')_

As Squall got ready for lunch, Rinoa just sat on his couch thinking if he was really angry or was he just playing. When the suspense was finally killing her, she asked him if he was.

"Are you angry at me?"

"No, it's just that I lost my keys last night and I think I left it at the beach."

_Oh shoot, there?? But I thought he left it here in his room??_

"Oh well, I better borrow Elle's car and I'll just get my keys later. C'mon I'd better take you home."

"But, but, what about lunch??"

"No need, we'll grab some on the way or just get some at your house."

"But Ellone wanted me to stay…."

Squall cocked an eyebrow at her and went to search for his "Griever". As he found it he told Rinoa, that even if her aunt agreed of the time she was coming home that was not an excuse for her to stay longer in the palace. "Look, I know you want to grab lunch here but c'mon Rin, at least give us some more surprises to keep from you.. okay?" he said as he held her chin up and gave her a smile.

"Now, let's get going."

* * *

­­­­

Aunt Cecile was as hospitable as she was when she was in a good mood, but today there is a slight tension between her and her hospitability. She welcomed them into her home and served them lunch but as soon as it was over she asked Squall to leave because chores had to be done.

"Look dear, I am not saying I do not want you here… I just need you to leave, because the grime here is thickening at the moment and it is very unsanitary." She said as she cleared up the table. Squall knew he wasn't wanted and that Rinoa was in it big time. So he stood up and thanked her for the meal and the understanding regarding the night before. "Thanks for the meal." He said to Aunt Cecile. "Bye Rin, I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early for school."

Rinoa went to take Squall to the door and she knew her aunt was staring at her like trying to pierce her skin. "Look Rin I can sense you'd be in great trouble, you better brace yourself." Squall then gave her a kiss on the forehead and whispered, "Call me after everything." And then went straight for his car.

­­­

* * *

Squall was right. She did get fried! Her aunt scolded her until the night fell again! And she sent her to her room before she threatened to call her mom. "I would call your mom and tell her about how you've been behaving, now go to your room."

Rinoa went up to her room and checked her phone, there were no messages. _Squall must think I need some time alone… oh well…I do need the time alone, I'll just call him tomorrow._

She was thinking of all the possibilities tomorrow… and fell asleep with that thought.

* * *

_A/N: so people what did you think? i made Aunt Cecile stricter so that there would be a challenge in their story. R & R kudos! ;)_


	12. First Day?

_A/N: hey! im back i am STILL busy with school but... c'mon what can i say? i love to write, i love this story and i love FF8 so i wrote the long awaited... (or not) chapter 12._

Chapter 12-

_**First Day?**_

* * *

Rinoa woke up with a smile on her face, for she knew today was the first day of school, well not officially but she moves in the school today. Despite the "little" argument she and her aunt fought about the night before she was clearly ecstatic to go to school._ Perfect new friends, new opportunities! And the best part Squall's with me! _

Angelo went to jump on her bed and started licking her on the face pretty much like to wake her up from her dreamy state. "Hey girl, today's first day of school, you excited?" she said as she stroked Angelo behind the ears.

"I better get up now." Rinoa yawned and checked the clock; it was exactly 7:00AM. Perfect timing to wake up, for she needed to be there at the sorority house by 9:00AM sharp and she was going to be picked up by Squall by 8:00AM.

She got up and lined some clothes for her to pick out the best one. "Hmm…." She whispered as she opened the closet to see all her clothes to be placed in color coordination. "Wow, auntie sure did her part well, maybe I should cut her some slack, but maybe some other time… because right now…" her little monologue was cut short with three knocks on her bedroom door.

"Rinoa, are you up?" her aunt's voice fluttered in from the door.

"Yeah, I'm picking out some clothes to wear." Rinoa replied as she opened the door to let her aunt in. Aunt Cecile settled herself on the bed as she told Rinoa she was sorry for yelling at her last night. "Sorry, it was I guess maternal instincts but then again make sure you forewarn me before you go and do that again okay?" she added as she peered in to see Rinoa's reaction.

Rinoa was thoughtful for a moment and then finally spoke up. "It's okay." She said as she went to sit beside her. "I guess you're just concerned about me, which is a good thing." Then she smiled at her aunt and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry too." Aunt Cecile patted her on the back and offered a helping hand to find the suitable clothes to wear.

"Sure thing… I'll pick out some of my clothes and then show you and lemme know what you think!" Rinoa said as she jumped up and down. "Well, I have an idea Rinoa…"

"Yeah what is it?"

"I'll find you a set of clothes to wear while you go take a bath." She said as she motioned to Rinoa's bathroom door. "Well?"

Rinoa was thoughtful again and wondered if they could she could trust her auntie to even allow her to choose her clothes. After much consideration she did nod her head and went to get her towel and head for the bathroom.

When she got out her aunt has already laid out three sets of clothes: one was a simple white blouse with blue beading on the back, some regular faded out jeans, and some sneakers. Two she chose a denim mini skirt, a yellow blouse with white prints and some strappy heals. And the third one was consisted of a turquoise racer back blouse which she matched with some plaid board shorts and flip flops.

"Wow auntie, I gotta hand it you; you surprised me with your choices!" Rinoa exclaimed as she saw the line up of clothes. "I swear all three of them are great! I can't even choose… I think I wanna wear them all in one day! Three changes!" Then she laughed.

"Well, I figured dressing you up with dresses won't work unlike before when you were a kid, so I went a little trendy, pretty much like when I was in your age, and besides," she looked around to see if anyone was there, well there weren't anyone. "I'm updated with the trends thanks to the "bible"."

Rinoa roared with laughter after finding out that her aunt still reads the Cosmo. "Well, you really surprise me auntie…" then she took a look at the clothes and tried to find one that suited her mood perfectly. And today she was feeling pretty boyish… so she chose the third option: The turquoise racer back, the board shorts and the flip-flops.

Once she was done dressing up she went down with her aunt to grab breakfast, and it was then 7:45AM. "Squall'll be here I a couple of minutes, why not offer him something to eat."

And just like a cue the sound of the roaring engine of Squall's jaguar.

"Squall's here!" Rinoa rushed to open the door to let him in. This time Squall looked like a male model. He was going to move in his own dorm there and was wearing a green polo shirt, some loose, hip hugging pants, and a pair of white with green trimmings slips. He topped the outfit off with a pair of Oakley Juliet Emerald Edition.

_Whew, he looks like a model! While I look like I am so laid back that I do not care about what people think about me. _

"Good morning, Auntie." Squall stated as he waved to Aunt Cecile. Aunt Cecile was shocked at the name he used but what the heck he's the president's son anyway. "Morning Rin, I expect that you are already packed? Don't worry we'll leave them there in your house or dorm then we could go home." Squall explained as he sat himself on the couch.

"Squall why don't you grab breakfast?" Aunt Cecile asked Squall as she set another plate on the table. "Why thank you, I would love to." Then he stood up and went to sit next to Rinoa.

As Squall settled himself next to Rinoa, he motioned for her to move a little bit closer for he was going to whisper something to her. "Rin, are you and your auntie okay now? I mean she is nicer today than she was yesterday." He added.

Aunt Cecile got back from the kitchen with some pancakes and set them on the table and sat in front of the couple. "So Squall, for all I know you are already acquainted with the people in the Esthar U?"

Squall finished putting pancakes on Rinoa's plate, and then she pouted as she was given 4pancakes to eat! She was protesting with her mouth open when Squall answered Aunt Cecile's question. "Yes, I am acquainted with the faculty and some of the students there. I studied there when I was a kid and some of my buddies from military school will be studying there too." He explained as he placed 2 pancakes on his plate, and Rinoa took the opportunity to dump 3 of hers on his plate. "What the--, " Squall started and Rinoa cut him off by sticking a tongue out to tease him.

"Oh I see, so you wouldn't have problems fitting in,…" Aunt Cecile sure was worried about Rinoa. To answer the worried tone her aunt was giving out, Rinoa said, "Its okay, I'm sure Squall won't let me die of shame there or something." Then she gulped her last slice of pancake and went to get her bags and fetch Angelo.

"Woof, Woof!" Angelo was protesting and didn't want to be placed in the pet porter. "Oh, will you just stay in there! I promise it'll only take a while! A few minutes? Seconds??"

Rinoa was getting frustrated as Squall approached her and told her it'll be fine if Angelo would stay here in her aunt's house for the duration of the semester. "Look Rin, it'll be okay if Angelo there would stay here. I mean he does take a liking for your aunt and she'll be a hassle and a bother if you take her, with the load you are taking now." He suggested earnestly. Rinoa was thinking of it and she was going to miss Angelo alright, but Squall had a point. "Okay." She muttered.

And with that they went their way to the Esthar U.

As they arrived at the campus, people were already flocking the list of rooms for the dorms, some were trying to pass the humongous line or pack of people blocking the way to get to their respective frats or sororities. "Rinoa, did you get a dorm or a sorority?" Squall asked Rinoa before he searched the place for a parking space. "Sorority." Rinoa answered as she pointed a parking space for Squall. As soon as they were parked he gave Rinoa a confused look. "Look Squall, I passed their exam when I was in school and the old team captain of the cheer squad gave me a sure position in her sorority." Rinoa explained to Squall, pretty much like a daughter to a father. "Oh, I see. Who is this friend of yours?" he asked. "Her name is Quistis Trepe." She said. "She was a senior when I was a junior and we go way back." She added as she deemed that Squall was going to ask another question. "You were a cheerleader?" he asked as he suppressed a snicker. "Yeah I was! Anything wrong with that??" Rinoa was red with embarrassment and anger. "Look buster I am a cheer captain!"

"Look I am not saying you weren't I just realized that this cleared up my query on why you scream all the time and why you are very, very bubbly." Squall explained to clean his name. "I'm sorry for laughing." Then he gave Rinoa a kiss on the forehead and turned the engine off.

He got out of the car first and took out most of their things and laid them on the walk way. A "bell boy" sort of assistant approached them and asked if he may carry the bags for them. "Sure thing, can you follow me to registry line?" Squall asked. "I need to get my papers to settle in my house."

"Certainly Mr. Leonhart." The bell boy said. "I think you don't need to go there though, the headmaster is calling you right there." He added as he pointed towards the rear part of the busy hallway. Rinoa bade Squall a short goodbye to get her schedule and map to find her sorority house. Squall approached the headmaster and gave him a small smile of thank you. "Thanks for fixing my papers Headmaster Cid."

"Don't worry about it Squall." He waved his thank you off and continued, "Least I can do for the president's son and president of the Kappa Gammas."

"Well then I take my thank you's back." Squall said as he gave a laugh and then said, "And I am not the president of Kappa Gamma, Seifer is. He got the part… unlucky him."

"Oh so Seifer got the position? Unlucky him… too much pressure for leading the best Frat in school… I wonder if he'll end up with his batch mate."

Squall cocked an eyebrow at him and asked who the person might be. "She's a sophomore too much like Seifer. She's been hanging with him the past year and I think Seifer was courting her, but I guess she turned him down because she was to lead her own sorority, the best one in fact." Rinoa came back with two papers, a map and a welcome note from her sorority sister. "Look at this Squall, Quistis sent me a personal letter stating where I am designated and how I am to work!" Then amongst her giggles she found the headmaster and apologized. "It's okay dear, so you are included in the elite crew huh?" Cid asked Rinoa.

"Elites?" she was confused at what the headmaster was talking about.

"Yes Elites," Cid continued. "The elite circle of sororities and fraternities, and as I can see and hear, you are in the top most sorority at campus: the Iota Omicron Phi."

"Yes I am in that sorority. And Quistis Trepe is the president."

"I was just talking about Quistis and Seifer a little while back." Then the headmaster winked at him and left.

Rinoa was startled by his sudden exit and asked Squall if he was really that weird. And Squall smiled and nodded.

"I better take you to your dorm Rin."

"Wait, so our groups are like sister companies?" Rinoa asked.

"Yeah pretty much, Seifer was my officer back in military school. He wasn't strict to me so he became my friend." He said. "He offered me a place here and I was in a good mood to accept. Now I think I regret it because I think Cid wants me and you to play match maker."

"ooohhh! Exciting!" she exclaimed as she went to pick up her things and went to her sorority house.

Squall led Rinoa back to the main entrance of the building and went to get one of the golf carts parked at the middle. "Squall, are you sure we could just go ahead and take one of these? I mean they could belong to someone else." She said worriedly.

"Don't worry Rin, look at this," Squall showed her a set of keys. "I own one of them. You didn't expect me to walk now did you?" he added with a smile and led the way to the black golf cart.

_As usual it's black…. Expect only the executive package for the "Executive Package" _

"Rinoa, c'mon!" he said as he hauled all the things on the back. "I'll take you to your place first before I head to my place."

"okay." Then he started the engine and went to the university's heart. It was a long way from the entrance hall. And it sure was ROUND.

_Wow this place sure is big, I wonder why Squall doesn't get lost, and he must've been here more than once to remember where he heads. _

"Hey, what's up with you hun?" he said. "You seem to be preoccupied." Rinoa blushed and waved him off. "Don't worry it's no problem… I …. I think I am just nervous with my new sorority house."

"Don't worry about it, you'll be fine and Quistis will be there to help you anyway." Then he made a right turn and stopped in front of a white house with blue shutters. "Here you are… Iota Omicron Phi."

_Gulp_

_This is it! Damn! I wonder if Quistis will be there!! I mean she is my only friend and I hope she stills remember me! I'm so frigging nervous! _

"Hey Rin, calm down." Squall said, breaking her trance and noticing her pale skin turn paler. "You okay? Do you want me to come in there with you? I mean I could take you up until the inside of the house you know." He offered but Rinoa refused and insisted that she was fine on her own and that she could take care of herself. So she went to the doorbell leaving her things with Squall at the road side. She plastered her "cheering" smile and pressed the doorbell. _Okay that wasn't so hard….. _then her thoughts were cut short because of a tiny bubbly little girl who went to greet her. "Hello! Welcome to the Iota Omicron Phi, Sorority House! I'm Selphie and I am the current door man/woman whatever." She said as she jumped up and down at the sight of Rinoa.

"uhm… hello to you too, Selphie. I'm Rinoa, I'm new here." Rinoa started and tried to sound not too surprised.

"Well, I'm a freshman too, but I came here a tad bit earlier than most of the others so they set me to do this task. Quistis will be here shortly to greet you… now… where're your bags?" She asked while her eyes searched Rinoa's sides to see if she brought some bags with her.

"My bags are over there." She said as she pointed to the golf cart on the road side. "Do I have to bring them in now? Wait, I'll go get them." And then Rinoa went to the golf cart to extract her bags from the back. Squall offered a helping hand and took most of the load from her and went with her up to the doorway, where Selphie was standing and waiting for Rinoa.

"Where do I put these….Miss??" Squall asked politely.

Obviously the girl was a bit star struck and wasn't able to answer the question. Not until the president decided to interject and went and carried the conversation off Selphie's shoulders.

"Sorry, I am not able to be here anymore sooner, Rinoa." Then she smiled at them while she shooed Selphie and sent her upstairs to do some chores. "Oh, I see you are with someone… who obviously does not belong in our sorority." Then she laughed and asked for his name.

"The name's Squall Leonhart. I'm here to escort Rinoa." He replied while he flashed the handsomest smile he could muster, which was not at all hard.

"Hmmm… Leonhart huh?" then she turned to Rinoa. "I didn't know you were affiliated with the First Family?"

"Well, I am not affiliated with them before I came here to Esthar. I mean we… um…" Rinoa began trying to think of how she could explain this when Squall intervened and told Quistis that she'll tell her some other time, when she's already okay with her room.

"But of course," Quistis said while flashing them a smile and finally letting them in. "Your room Rinoa, is at the last door on the right. Right in front of the President's," she told them as she led the way to the room. "I chose that spot for you. So that you could come to my room to chat." Then she pointed to the room and let them in.

"Well Squall I believe our by-laws can only allow you access up to this part of the room, well in the morning of course." Then she left them together and told Rinoa to settle in and for Squall to leave as soon as possible because she didn't want any issues with her sorority. "Listen, it's not like I don't want you here, it's just the rules don't allow it… sorry but you have to go." And with that she bade them goodbye and told Rinoa to meet after dinner, before then she could do whatever she wants.

"Wait!"Rinoa tried to call her back but it was too late. "Oh well I'll just ask her later…"

"What were you going to ask her?" Squall asked while he threw the bags on the vacant lavender bed. "Window side right?" he asked.

"Yep, thanks.." Rinoa muttered. "I was going to ask her who my room mate is… I mean there are two beds and I don't think the other one is for you."

Squall laughed as he took a look around the room and found it big for two people. "Elites….so anyway whoever your roommate is I am sure she'll like you. And it is pretty obvious that the other one is not for me… it has a bear and it's pink."

Rinoa laughed at the comment and decided to shoo Squall to his own dorm. "You better go now, so that I could get settled, thanks." Then she gave him a small peck on the lips before he went on his way.

Once the door was shut Rinoa laid down on the bed and thought, _this place ain't half bad. It's actually great! Like my bedroom in Deling!" _

Then the door opened again, making Rinoa sit up on her bed. "Oh I am sorry! Did I wake you up?" It was Selphie the girl from the door. "And I am also sorry for being stuck-up when I greeted you guys."

Rinoa waved her hand and told her it was okay.

"Whew! Thank Hyne, I was getting nervous… I mean." Then she smiled goofily. "Anyway, my name's Selphie Tilmitt, freshman and I am taking up CommArts!" she introduced herself with such enthusiasm… she reminded her of Helga.

"Wow, what a coincidence! I'm taking up CommArts too! My name's Rinoa Heartilly." Then she shook hands with this new girl she calls her friend.

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_A/N: so what did you think this timE? lol... anyway guys i am not bout to leave this story to end with a hanging ending so dont worry...moreover, bear with me because i am busy and i dont update everyday or every week but i try... R & R... Thanks! Kudos! XD  
_


	13. Kappa Gamma

_A/N: sorry this update took so long! i am hella busy with school and stuff. tough semester i guess :) and i appreciate the comments! keep em coming! _

_**disclaimer:**_ i do not own anything but this laptop i am using. Square Enix belongs to someone else and so does my characters. :)

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Chapter 13

_**Kappa Gamma**_

Meanwhile, Squall was driving back to his own dorm, AKA the Kappa Gamma house. As he pulled into one last corner, he then saw the humongous mansion like frat house.

**Whew and I thought I was lost... they changed a lot since the last month I was here.**

Squall unloaded his things and took them to the doorway. "This place sure has changed; I guess the president needs to fit his monstrosity of luggage into such a small doorway so he changed it." Squall muttered to himself as he approached the huge double oak doors, which he presumed to be quite the weights.

He pushed the huge doors as hard as he can but as expected he wasn't able to move the damn door. "What the hell, how am I supposed to open these friggin' doors?" He cussed under his breath. But as soon as he was about to throw a tantrum, the door swung open, both doors, and he found himself looking directly at his best pal: Seifer Almasy.

"What's cracking Leonhart??" the blonde threw Squall's things aside and pulled him into their secret handshake, which the other freshmen inside found quite funny.

"Everything is as it should be, Seif. I mean I am here in one piece aren't I?" Squall said as he was being pulled into submission by the president of one of the elites.

"You still haven't changed! You're still clueless! Captain Puberty!" Seifer boomed. It was a funny sight; the freshmen and upperclassmen alike were flocking the entrance hall to watch childhood friends battle it out.

"Well, unlike you, I changed my mind about staying single for life." Squall said, totally off the topic.

"HAHA" Seifer laughed so loudly, that it reverberated in the huge hall, up to the rooms. "Well, do you like what I have done with the place?" he asked.

"Nope. It makes me feel closer to home, which might I remind you, is not a very good thing for me." Squall said as Seifer let go of him. "And besides, you know I am such a minimalist." He said as he picked up his suitcases and decided to head off.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Seifer called while pushing past the spectators to follow Squall up to the sleeping quarters. "Uh…"

"What? I'm just trying to get to my room." Squall said cocking an eyebrow to Seifer, who was now panicking.

"Well, I changed your room, pal. I placed you in the room right next to mine instead of opposite it." Seifer said. Everyone turned their heads to Seifer's position.

They all knew that the room that was next to Seifer's is the VP's room, which in their case was inexistent. The room right in front of Seifer's was supposedly the third to the biggest room in the house, someone who has a high rank in the hierarchy or the person whom the Pres would want to put there, are the only people who are allowed to take it.

"What happened to my room?" Squall was now ascending the stairs and was also hauling his luggage, which Seifer stole from his arms, to carry to the room right next to his. "Look, I know you want the whole sun and moon rooms, me being the sun," Seifer was now pointing to the Sun room, "and the," he now pointed to the room opposite it, "you being the Moon."

"Yeah, I know about that. What I am inquiring about is why I am now in the Star room?" Squall now faced Seifer and cocked an eyebrow.

"Well," Seifer put down his share of the load on the floor and went to open the Moon room. "If you must know…" then he pushed open the door to unveil the very, very intricately designed roof and walls of the huge room. The bed was at the middle of the room, on a huge blue rug. The room was of navy blue and black, a lot of furnishing was in it and the furniture looked of what vamps would buy.

"Oh my Hyne." Squall was dumbstruck and disappointed at the same time. "Didn't I want a minimalistic feel? What the hell is this?? I feel like Count Dracula!" he said as he pointed at the huge chair with black leather upholstery and silver arms and feet.

"Well, I thought it didn't match the whole "Moon and Sun" thing!" Seifer threw his arms up the air and pushed past Squall to the curtains and show him the balcony. "There's a balcony! Aren't you happy with the balcony?" then he gave a stupid smile.

Squall just groaned and decided to let it go. "This room is…fine with me, Seif."

"Really?! I mean aren't you pissed? Won't you hate me for this?" Seifer was now relieved and was acting like Squall was the president.

"If I hated you for this, I would've taken the Star room. So, this room…" Squall said as he placed his luggage next to the huge cabinet. "Is yours as big as this?"

"Yeah, just a bit though, I mean I do have a girlfriend and I want her to be as comfortable as possible." Then he winked at Squall, like a playboy and laughed.

"Pshhh. Do you think she would really fall for that?" Squall asked. "Who is your girlfriend anyway?"

"Well, I don't think she'll fall for it, but it is worth a try. We could let women stay here, but only for a week per month. Nothing more than that, we're elites that is—"he was cut off by Squall's interjection. "Don't sway from the question, buddy."

"Oh okay! I give up, you still are the Captain." He raised his arms in defeat and closed the door behind him. "You see," he was uneasy and blushing, which Squall found scary. "We're not REALLY together, I mean, we are just… friends."

"Are you talking about Quistis Trepe?" Squall asked.

"Yes."

Then Seifer blushed.

Squall roared with laughter. He was thrown into a fit of laughter and was now rolling on his back.

"Shoot. I'm sorry for losing cool, dude; but c'mon! Trepe? She's super hot! I think she's outta your league." Squall said as he stood up from his position and sat up.

"Well yeah, but I had my chances…I blew them." Seifer was now sad. He looked at the brunette as if he was gonna cry.

"Hey! Aren't you the one who told me never to cry about women? Why are you going to right now?" Squall asked as he tried to stop himself from laughing again.

"Well, Quitis, she's different. She was my best pal last year and now we grew apart because I confessed." Seifer continued. "She didn't reject me because she didn't like me or love me or anything, she rejected me because, according to her, she was going to be busy this year." Then he sat on the huge Dracula-like chair.

"So she likes you but cannot be your girl because, she's going to be busy?" Squall cleared. Seifer just gave him a nod and said nothing.

In a matter of seconds, they started laughing and were now over the whole "I can't get a girl" thing.

"That was a stupid conversation, Squall." Seifer said as he tried to surpass the fit of laughter.

"I know, but hey, at least I know you're a softy!" Squall laughed.

Seifer threw a pillow at him to shut him up and shot a question which caught Squall off guard. "So, what about you buddy?"

"Do you have a REAL girlfriend?" Seifer cocked an eyebrow at Squall and laughed.

Squall blushed scarlet but nevertheless remained calm. "Well, I do. And this isn't like those one-nighters I had back in military school. "

"Wow, my man Squall has a wifey!" someone yelled from the door.

"What the… who are you?" Squall asked as he went to open the door.

"What's happenin?!"

A long haired brunette opened the door just as Squall touched the door knob. "Hey!"

"Hey, Irvine." Squall said curtly. "Nice to see you're still alive."

"Nice to see too, Squall." The cowboy said. "So, according to the local news, that our dear friend and president doesn't read, YOU GOT A GIRLFRIEND!"

Then Irvine laughed, which was later on followed by huge crashing sound, which was Seifer trying to shut the cowboy up. "You are starting to sound like Dincht!" The blonde yelled as he straddled the cowboy down. "Ey,ey! Gerroff me! Y'all better call the cops on this guy!" Irvine said as he turned scarlet. "Oops, let loose my "Hey y'all" self."

They all laughed at his statement and his sudden notice of his accent. "Your accent is still there huh? This is soo funny." Squall said as he settled on the bed.

"So," Seifer started as he tried to stand up from his position and helping Irvine too. "Who's the girl, Squall? Or should I ask this cowboy from "hey y'all" state?"

"Well, she studies here too." Squall stated.

"That's it?? That is the only clue you're going to give me? Your best pal??" Seifer said as he pretended to act hurt.

"I told you, I saw it in the paper last night. He kissed her in front of the whole Elite community at their last Gala!" Irvine said as he frantically searched for the newspaper cut out.

"It was on the news?" Squall asked as if not moved.

"Yeah, and I have it here, I think…." Irvine said.

"Move!" Seifer removed the cowboy's jacket and searched for the paper on his own. "Here! Wow, good kiss man, they got your good side!"

"Thanks?" Squall said tentatively.

"Read the caption, Seif! You'll love it!" Irvine said as he settled in the huge chair.

"…_the snobbish prince of Esthar just became the biggest star in the Charity Gala, by making a scene of kissing a girl named…" _Seifer stopped talking and said, "Its cut off…"

"Damn you, you should've cut the correctly!" Seifer blamed Irvine and threw him the paper.

"Hey it's not my fault my mom is such a dragon!" Irvine countered.

"What the… am I suppose to care abou—"

"Shut up, both of you." Squall said. "Her name's Rinoa, she studies here. Same level as us, Irv."

"Yeah? Then I might know her, I memorized all the women's names." The cowboy put up his hat and gave them a flashy smile.

"Yeah, yeah, you never change." Seifer said.

"Well, I don't change that quickly." Irvine said. "Is she coming over today?"

"No." Squall said as he stood up and shooed the two out of his room. "I'll be introducing you guys soon, but as of now I am tired, so get out."

"Grumpy." Seifer muttered as he went on his way downstairs and Irvine on his way to the Star room.

**Now time for me to have some alone time! **

Squall thought as he stretched on the huge bed.

**This place isn't half bad… anyway I'll SMS Rinoa to tell her I can't come.**

He extracted his phone from his pocket and keyed in a message to Rinoa, to tell her they have to cancel because he has a huge headache. Then he flipped his phone closed and fell, almost instantly, asleep.

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_A/N: so yeah that's the chapter! next chap is Rinoa's time! :) R&R cyuz! :)  
_


	14. Iota Omicron Phi

_A/N: so yeah this is the 14th chapter, quite short... simultaneously happening with chapter 13 wink_

_Disclaimer: i do not own squareenix. :)_

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-Chapter 14-

_**Iota Omicron Phi**_

Rinoa sat up on her bed to get a better view of who she was talking to. She saw that this Selphie was wearing a yellow mini dress and had emerald green eyes. She was pretty indeed.

_wow this girl sure is pretty… _

"Hey Rinoa, do you mind if I sit here?" indicating the beanie that Rinoa brought. She nodded and Selphie went straight for the beanie and settled herself in. "So…" she began as she Indian sat. "Yeah?" Rinoa replied as she stared out the window. "What's your first class going to be?"

_What an odd question to ask. _

"Well if I could remember correctly…" she put her finger on her lip like she was lost in her on thoughts. "I think its ALGB101."

"Really? That's my first class too! But I guess it's everybody's first class here huh?" Selphie laughed at her statement and muttered something inaudible and then shut up. "I'm in section 2 for ALGB101, what about you?"

"Same." Then Rinoa smiled at Selphie.

Just then Rinoa thought of a stupid, yet brilliant, plan. "Hey Selphie, do you know anybody of "Royal Blood"?

Selphie thoughtfully sought for an answer, "Hmm… yeah I know one person…"

_I wonder who this person will be… I mean I could be known for something, and I could use that to boost my rep! What am I thinking! I'm being mean!_

"Yeah!" Selphie suddenly blurted out, shocking Rinoa and making her fall back. "oops sorry bout that, anyway I do know one person, guy, or whatever."

"You do?" _fck it's a man… oh well._

"Yeah, he's from Trabia, my home town." Selphie then continued. "He is the hottest guy there, same age as us, and a real Gentleman."

Rinoa sat up, obviously interested. "So, who is this guy? And are you… were you an item?" she asked super intently that Selphie was caught off guard, but nevertheless, she continued.

"Well, we, I mean, I think, uhm… I think we were, or we are an item. His name is Irvine Kinneas of the Mt. Viscous Kinneas." Then she blushed, furious red.

Rinoa found this cute and giggled. "So does he study here?" Selphie frowned and shook her head, then after a while she shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know. I honestly don't. I just know that he transferred to Esthar Military School last year."

"Aww, poor you." Rinoa went to sit beside Selphie and apologized. "Hmm, to make it up for making you answer such horrible questions; you could ask me some too." Then she stuck her tongue out and laughed.

Selphie got over her being "mellow" and shot a question at Rinoa. "Hmmm, payback huh,"

"Let's see, let's see…" she was thoughtful again and her eyes sparkled like an emerald glinting under the sun. "Who was that guy you were with earlier? He's hot." She added cautiously as she thought she'd offend Rinoa.

"Oh, I figured you'd ask about him." Rinoa sat up right again and told Selphie about Squall; once she was finished, Selphie's mouth cannot contain a huge grin anymore.

"So what did you think of my story?" Rinoa asked while she was staring at the gleeful Selphie.

"Wow! Just W.O.W!" Selphie replied as she stood up and was now jumping up and down the carpeted floor. "That's awesome!"

"You think so? I mean, I think I'm such a hassle, 'cause he's royalty and I'm a commoner…well here at least." Rinoa told the bouncing yellow substance.

"Hmm, here… you said here… are you by any chance a princess too?" Selphie was not kidding when she asked the question, but she didn't stop bouncing.

"I'm not, but close enough. I'm the daughter of the most powerful man in Deling, but I live my divorcee mother." Rinoa said.

_It's surprising that ever since my first day in esthar, I tell all the people I just met who or what I really am!_

"So your father… he's the President of Deling?" she asked.

"Nope," Rinoa replied as she shook her head. "He's the General of the Galbadian Army."

"Oh my Hyne, Rin!" Selphie was oddly shocked, more shocked than she was with the whole "Prince as a Boyfriend" idea. "So, so… we're you…uhm…"

She can't quite produce a "correct" question, so Rinoa decided to help Selphie. "Nope, I wasn't forced to do anything, and I wasn't restricted as hell." Then she smiled, hoping that she answered the correct answer to the right question.

"Whew! Thanks for saving me that was awkward." Then Rinoa asked Selphie who her parents were. "Well I'm an only child, which is weird in Trabia, because it is super cold there." Then both of the women giggled and the Q & A was halted.

"Well, we both know how they could be when it is cold." Selphie said as she tried to catch her breath. "So yeah."

Rinoa felt that Selphie wasn't telling her everything, but she didn't care. "Well, I remember this one article about Trabia, saying that that only family with only one offspring there was part of the Noble Bloods."

"Well, I guess I better let you Guess." Then she winked at Rinoa.

"Hmm…Tilmitt… Tilmitt… oh!" Rinoa then clapped her hands together and stood up. "You're Selphie Tilmitt!"

Selphie raised her eyebrow at Rinoa and said, "Yeah I think I know who I am and I believe I told you my name since this morning!"

"No, no…" Rinoa said while looking at her feet and waving a hand to Selphie. "Green eyes… Brunette… only child…" she muttered incoherently.

"Hey Rin, you don't have to take this seriously, I could just tell you." Selphie tried to tell Rinoa.

"You're the daughter of the late Duke of Trabia, headmaster of the Trabia Garden and celebrated entrepreneur." Rinoa said to Selphie.

Selphie applauded Rinoa in response. "Yay! You're the only one to guess that correctly! You sure know your history…"

"Well yeah my dad died when I was in middle school, accident. My mom is Jocasta Helena-Tilmitt, and she was a famous dancer."

"That's funny. My mom was a singer! Julia Heartilly." Rinoa said.

"This is sooo cool! My mom is in Trabia taking care of everything and since I got accepted here, for only the course of CommArts, because I wasn't able to pass the quota for Political Science." The brunette explained.

"So that's why… but you should be used to seeing people… you are supposed to be…I mean… well, used to it." Rinoa said as she sat back down on her bed.

"Well I'm not because I am usually busy doing something else, or gone off to some island with my friends, and of course, Irvine."

"Aww. Just like me I think, but I'm more of the school freak."

Selphie went to sit beside Rinoa and asked. "You don't look like a nerd."

Rinoa gave a hearty laugh and told Selphie that she was the Captain of the cheer squad and was a real good student too, but not good enough to make it to the tops.

"Oh I see what you mean, and then I guess Quistis was your upperclassmen?" Selphie asked while lying down on the bed.

Rinoa nodded and stretched. "Ungghh! What a short hour, that one."

"I couldn't agree with you more, hey are you hungry? Do you want to go to the kitchen to grab food?"

"Why not? I'll SMS Squall too, I want him and you, my new best friend, to meet."1

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_A/N: hits a mosquit0 i am being eaten by bugs now, but please read and review, i really appreciate them! :D i'll try to write faster_ LOL xD


	15. The Moon Room

_A/N: hey another chapter... _

_Disclaimer: i don't own Square-Enix... if i did i would be Rich XD_

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**Chapter 15**

_**The Moon Room**_

_Aww shoot, Squall had to cancel. _

Rinoa thought as she saw the message Squall just sent her. Selphie saw the disappointed look on Rinoa's face and told her, "Noa, it's fine if he can't come tonight, let's just grab pizza." Then she smiled so goofily that it made Rinoa laugh her heart out. After a while of laughing and teasing (again), Rinoa regained composure to apologize to Selphie, who was currently pouting at her and occasionally stuck her tongue out.

"Look, that WAS a goofy face. " Rinoa began. "Anyone who would've seen it would've shown you the same reaction. " Then she laughed.

"That's just plain mean! I was apologizing so sincerely…" Selphie then pouted and turned to look the other direction.

"Oh you are such a drama queen!" Rinoa exclaimed, finally giving up on the charade that Selphie was making.

Then Selphie laughed at Rinoa's exclamation of giving up. "Well I guess I won! We're gonna have pizza for dinner!" She yelled in a French accent and pulled Rinoa outside the door.

"Wait! Where the heck are we gonna get pizza?" Rinoa asked as she was being hauled downstairs by an over excited bouncing ball of yellow.

"There are a lot of restaurants just outside campus, we could walk towards them or order for delivery…but since it is such a wonderful evening I decided, for the both of us, to WALK." Selphie said as she led the way on the bricked walkway. Rinoa was walking right beside her while ogling at the nice night sky.

"Are you sure we're not gonna get lost?" Rinoa asked. "Of course not, I memorized the map this morning!" The brunette replied.

They made a left turn then a right then another left then went a couple times around the statue in the middle of the campus. "Um, Selph…" Rinoa began as she caught up with Selphie. "Why did we go around the statue for, like, 3 times?"

Selphie laughed at Rinoa's distress and told her it was just for good luck. "I believe in such things you know, anyway there's the exit and straight from there is the famous pizza place."

Rinoa just laughed and ran towards the exit of the campus and straight into the pizza place's entrance.

"Hello ma'am my name is Rona and I shall be your waitress for tonight." A waitress greeted her the moment she went in.

"Wow, fast service…" Rinoa complimented. "Well, okay can I have a table for 2?"

"Right this way ma'am." She led Rinoa, which was closely followed by Selphie, to the nearest 2 seat table.

"Pepperoni!" Selphie exclaimed. "And lots of cheese." Then she handed the menu to the waitress.

"Well, I'll have whatever she's having and a root beer float."

"Very good ma'am, I'll have your order in a few minutes."

After a few the waitress came back with their food and a couple of knives. "Enjoy your meal ma'am."

"Wow Selphie, I thought this was just a common pizza joint! This is way not normal, there're waiters, menus and such…this is like… 2nd class dining."

"Well, I didn't say that it was like the normal, now didn't I? You better get used to it, since most of the students in Esthar U are rich; this is kind of cheap to them."

"What the--" Rinoa just couldn't believe that this was a normal pizza joint but decided not to question too much or people would know they are from Esthar U and that her picture was staring her right at the face.

"Motherfuck!" Rinoa suddenly exclaimed after swallowing a huge bite of pepperoni pizza.

"What?? Is there something wrong Rin?" Selphie asked thinking Rinoa has allergies or something. "Do you need histamine blockers?"

"No, no, I'm fine, sorry for startling you." Rinoa waved off the topic and ushered Selphie to finish their pizzas and go back to the house.

After they've finished their meals, they paid, and bade goodbye to the waitress... they went on their way. "Let's hail a cab or something okay Rinoa?" Selphie asked still a bit concerned about Rinoa's sudden out burst of emotion back in the restaurant.

Rinoa just nodded then a sudden thought came to her. "Hey, mind holding that thought? I just have to get something before we go back."

Selphie was dumbstruck again by Rinoa's behavior but nevertheless she agreed and went to sit by the bench.

Rinoa ran towards the newspaper stand and went to get a paper. She looked at the entertainment page and her face wasn't there, but instead it was on the front page! Rinoa flushed and was definitely alarmed! _Shit._

She rushed back to Selphie's side and clutched the paper to her chest. "Let's go Selph, it's getting darker and colder." Then she smiled and offered to help Selphie get up.

"Rinoa you sure are acting awfully weird." Then she shook her head. "But no matter, Imma hail a cab okay?" then she lifted her arm to call one.

Once on the cab Rinoa contemplated about what she just seen and read… _I'm another one of those tabloid items that I used to laugh at when I was in high school. And I thought I won't be one of those kinds of women who get in news papers because they do such things… oh my Hyne._

"Hey Rinoa, this is our stop… you alright?" Selphie asked her as she went out the cab and paid the driver. "You seem really out of it tonight, you better get some sleep."

"Yeah I better… but before I do, do you know where the Kappa Gamma house is?"

"Why would you wanna know that?" Selphie asked while trying to open their house's door.

"Just tell me, now, please Selphie… its way urgent!" Rinoa practically begged for Selphie to tell her.

"Oh okay, it's there… um, near the Loire fountain. I don't know what the deal is with the royal family and this school." Then Selphie shrugged. "Do you still—Rinoa?"

Rinoa sprinted off to the Kappa Gamma house. _Sorry Selph, but I have to see Squall urgently! Damn this photo, they didn't even get my good side! Ugh, I remember that fountain I think it's near—there! _

Rinoa was already panting when she arrived. Her cheeks were super flushed and her hair was a mess, although she still looked stunning, she was definitely a sight. A huge black man went to open the door for her and asked her who she was looking for. "I'm Rinoa…Heartily do you know where Squall is?" She was definitely short of breath.

"Well, yes… why don't you come inside and I'll bring him down here in a few." The man told her to sit down by the huge couch and offered some drinks.

"No thank you, I just really need to see Squall." Rinoa said as she gracefully declined the juice.

"Oh okay, hold on…" And with that he left her to wait.

After a few minutes, he came back down with Squall at his wake. He was already in his PJs when Rajin called him, and was probably asleep as to what his hair looked like. "Thanks Rajin. I'll take it from here; you could resume your work out now."

Rajin nodded and bade goodbye to Rinoa before going back to the gym.

"Rinoa, are you okay? You seem pale…what happened to you?" Squall was worried; he thought Rinoa was gonna faint from her being super pale. **Damn she couldn't be pregnant… I didn't… we didn't! What the heck is wrong?** "Rinoa?"

Then Squall cupped her face and made her face him. "Are you okay?"

When Rinoa finally regained composure, she showed Squall the paper. "Look, they went and printed my face buried in yours."

Squall sighed in relief that that was the only problem… and not her being impregnated in some weird cosmic way. "Look, they're the press, the paparazzi. You cannot tell them what to or not to print… you just have to give the right answers so that they won't mislead the people."

"Look you are used to this," Rinoa faced Squall, who was now sitting beside her. "But I'm not. I don't want to be seen in new papers just like this! I don't! What if my mom sees this? Or auntie?"

Rinoa had the look of panic written all over her face and Squall was not able to subdue the intensity of it. "Okay… I'll ask the presidential staff to take this article out of the stands by tomorrow morning." Then he gave Rinoa a hug and kiss on the forehead. "It'll be okay…I'm just wondering why they just published this now; I mean this happened like 2 days ago."

"I don't care; they might've found something quite juicier than this one…" Rinoa was in deep thought and was fidgeting in Squall's arms.

"Look Rin, you are in no shape to go back to your own house, I guess you better stay here for the night." Squall suggested and thought if his room was okay. "Anyway, this will be okay. Don't worry."

"Squall, this was in the papers last Saturday, right?" Rinoa asked.

"Yeah I think it was in the entertainment page—" Squall was cut off in midsentence when Rinoa suddenly cried.

**Oh my Hyne, I didn't think she'd take it this way… I better carry her to my room…but what's she gonna wear to sleep? I guess my old t-shirts would be okay. **

"C'mon Rin, stop crying…come ere'," Squall carried Rinoa in his arms like a little girl and took her upstairs, only to be startled by Irvine.

"Hey Squall! I came to your room but you weren't there so I went—" he was caught in the middle of his sentence when he came to face Squall… and a girl in his arms.

"Whoa! I know we could bring in girls here, but c'mon Squall at this early of the year? Can't you keep it in you pants?" Irvine asked as if the sun was bright and no one was asleep.

Squall just gave him the death glare and went to his room. "Whatever it is that you need it'll have to wait until morning. Goodnight." And with that Squall shut the door to the Moon Room and locked it.

"Geez, I was only curious if that was the girl from the tabloid… anyway… goodnight." Irvine said through the oak doors of Squall room.

"Who was that?" Rinoa asked as she sat on Squall's Count Dracula chair.

"That? That was nobody, he's just a big bother…I'll introduce you properly some other time, right now you need a change of clothes and a goodnight's sleep, we'll deal with this problem tomorrow." Squall said as he rummaged his closet for some old boxers and a huge shirt. Rinoa on the other hand, took his advice and went in the shower.

Squall found some old shorts and a huge t-shirt. He went inside the bathroom and left the clothes on the sink for Rinoa to use. "Hey I brought you some clothes," Squall said as he opted to leave. "I left them on the sink."

Rinoa didn't respond but instead continued with her bathing and began to sing too. "Lalalala… watch your mouth...oh oh oh..." Squall just laughed and left her to finish her bathing.

"Squall?" Rinoa asked as she went out of the shower wrapped in a towel. She missed to see the clothes on the sink and went outside to look for Squall. "Squall?" She called again as she searched the dark room.

"Yeah?" Squall answered from behind the curtains, he was on the balcony staring at the night sky. "Wha— the hell?! Um ah… oh… errr…" Squall was blushing because of the state Rinoa was in. "Um… I was hoping to borrow some of your clothes… if it's okay?" Rinoa asked as haphazardly and then smiled.

"Yeah, um…I actually left some on the sink…" Squall was stuttering, which was super unlikely to happen. "Here…uh…" Squall gave Rinoa the clothes that he placed on the sink. "You didn't see them?"

"Well, I guess not." Rinoa replied, gesturing to her state and her so called clothes. She went inside the bathroom again and changed.

**Oh my Hyne, what just happened? **Squall thought as he waited for Rinoa to get out of the bathroom.

_Oh my Hyne… I so totally own that prince. _Rinoa thought as she dressed up but didn't find the time to fix her hair. She went out and found Squall staring, again, at the sky. "Hey you," Rinoa said as she wrapped her arms around Squall. "You seem to like the night sky."

Squall removed her arms and pulled her in front of him. "Well, what's not to like?" he was back to his usual self and gave Rinoa a peck on the lips. Rinoa kissed him back and this time Squall was ready. He deepened the kiss, letting Rinoa get weak in the knees and let her whole weight fall on Squall's arms. Rinoa let her fingers get tangled in Squall's messy hair as she mashed her face into his, deepening the kiss even more. Squall's hands traveled downwards towards Rinoa's rib cage, then her waist, then her hips and finally to her ass, then he carried her to his bed. Not breaking the kiss, Rinoa grabbed his shoulders and let her whole weight be carried, ever so easily by Squall. Trying not to break the kiss by placing Rinoa on the bed, he let his whole weight collapse on the bed too. "I love you Rinoa," Squall whispered as he brushed his lips against Rinoa's ear. "Yeah I know." Rinoa replied then she laughed. Squall stopped what he was doing and raised an eyebrow at her. "Well?" he asked. "Well what?"

"Aren't you gonna tell me something?" Squall asked. "Nope, none." Rinoa said trying to look serious. Squall got annoyed and tried to exchange places with Rinoa. Then he carried her like a baby, flexing his huge arms in the process. Then he shook the laughing Rinoa for an answer, "So? Still nothing?" Rinoa just laughed at him and stuck a tongue. "Why you…!" This time Rinoa got the better of Squall and used her legs to straddle him. "Okay, I love you…r… room." Then she laughed and rolled on her stomach beside Squall. "I know right?" Squall decided to just tag along Rinoa's game. Rinoa then whispered to Squall: "And I love you, too." And she gave him a small peck on the lips. They cuddled for a little while and then Rinoa finally dozed off to sleep, snuggling to Squall in the process.

"I promise I won't let those paparazzi ruin you Rin." Squall whispered in her ear and then fell asleep too.

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_A/N: that's chapter 15 for you, hope you liked it. if you did, review it :) kudos  
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	16. A Commotion

_A/N: here's another chapter... i stayed up all night to finish this one! LOL XD_

disclaimer: i dont own Square enix

**_A Commotion_**

Chapter16

Squall woke facing his clock and saw that it was already 9am. **Oh shoot! I woke up late; I won't be able to work out anymore…better just doze off again. **Squall thought as he massaged his head for waking up abruptly. "Ungh…" someone murmured, as though they woke up with Squall's movements. Squall was, of course, shocked to hear the voice; the voice of a woman. **What the hell?** Then he turned to face his left side, only to get shocked by seeing Rinoa lying next to him. "Why is she here?" He asked himself and tried to recall the events that occurred last night. "I'd better just let her sleep for a little more." He said as he cuddled Rinoa like a little sister in his arms.

Meanwhile at the Iota house, Quistis was starting to brief every one of the morning's agenda. "Good morning sisters! I am sorry for waking you up at this early of the day but we are in need to fill important positions in our dear society." Selphie was still worried where Rinoa was and hoped that Quitis won't look for her. She yawned and caught the attention of Quitis. "I'm really sorry Selph, for waking you up this early, but I thank you for coming down. Which reminds me," she said as she looked around at her new members. "I'm going to ask my secretary, Xu to check attendance. Xu? Where are you?" she asked as she looked for Xu amongst the members. "I'm here Quis." The raven haired girl raised her arms to indicate that she was sitting on the couch behind the huge vase on the coffee table. "There you are! Please step up here and check for attendance for the minutes of our very first meeting." _Oh my Rinoa, you better get your butt down here! It's already quarter to 10!_

A little while later, Rinoa woke up; finding herself in Squall's arms. She blushed furiously as she recalled last night's undertakings.

_Oh my Hyne. I didn't know I would cause him to panic like he did last night…I guess I better apologize next time._ She checked the alarm clock next to Squall, leaning over him in the process, and saw that it was already 10am. "Oh no…I'm late for our morning meeting!" She gasped as she realized that she was an hour late for their morning meeting…and nomination of people to be inducted as the sorority's staff this school year. _And I was so eager to get the secretary position!!_

"Damn!" she said as she tried to get out of Squall's hold, which was considerably easy compared to how Derick used to hold her. _Why did he come across my mind at this time of the day?! It's getting worse!!_ Squall woke up from Rinoa's sudden movements and groaned. Rinoa covered her mouth and tried to stay still so that he'd just go back to sleep, but this caused Squall to tighten his grip on her and making her crash on him.

_This will not turn out good if I do not wake him up!_ Rinoa repositioned herself in his arms and started to shake Squall to wake.

"Squall…? Squall? Squall! " Rinoa said as she almost shook the life out of Squall. "Wake up!" Rinoa practically yelled in his ears. Squall woke up with a groan and buried Rinoa in his chest. _What the hell? Is he trying to kill me? _

"Gerroff!" Rinoa screamed as she pushed Squall away. "Squall I need to go! Let go of me!" Rinoa said. By this time Squall was awake but wouldn't open his eyes. He let go of Rinoa and covered his face with a pillow.

"Thank you! Now I really need to get going…I'll borrow some normal clothes, okay?" Rinoa said as she went to his closet to search for something that might make her look normal. Then she found a plain white tee and some jeans that seemed to be 3 sizes bigger than hers. _These would have to do. _She thought as she went into the bathroom to wear them.

She thought of showering first but decided to make her shower to be as quick as possible. Then she wore the clothes she borrowed and tied her hair in a kind of messy pony tail.

"Hey Squall, I'm gonna leave now." She called out on the door. "Squall?" she asked again as she peered through the door. But she saw that Squall has gotten off the bed. "Squall?" she asked once more.

"I'll be taking you back to your dorm, Rin." He said as he searched for a shirt. Rinoa noticed that he wasn't wearing one and blushed. _Oh Hyne… I still can't get over his abs…_drools. "Rinoa? You okay?" Squall asked as he pulled a shirt on and saw that Rinoa looked red. "Are you okay? Do you need something?" Squall asked her as he went to touch her forehead.

Rinoa was so embarrassed by the fact that this is the second or third or nth time that this has happened to her. "No, no! I don't have a fever I am fine…no need to take me back…besides it's already 10:10am...I'm super duper late." Rinoa said as she explained why she was red.

Squall just laughed and said, "That is why I'm taking you back. If you run you'll be there 10 more minutes later that is why I'll take you via cart." Rinoa just nodded and went downstairs with Squall. When they got down everybody was busy in the kitchen still grabbing brunch. "…hey Irvine! Gimme back my hotdogs…!" she heard someone say as Squall opened the huge doors and led her to the golf cart.

Back the house, every one was psyched about who to vote for because they barely know anyone there. Someone asked Quistis this and she replied "Rely on your guts girls. Who does your gut tell you to vote?" she asked the brunette who asked. "Well, as of now…no one." Everyone laughed and agreed with her. "Well, shall we open the nominations?" Quistis said as she tried to hush everybody.

"Oh Hyne! They already started!" Rinoa said as Squall pulled in the parking lot. "Well Rinoa, here we are." Rinoa jumped out of the cart and ran towards the entrance and pushed the white door. Squall stared at her for a while then laughed. "I better wait here for her." He muttered to himself as he went and took a nap in the cart.

"Everyone nominated people who they know…and now I will mention those nominated and I want them to stand here beside me and Xu." The blonde said to the pool of women who were all fidgeting.

As Quistis opened her mouth to read the names, the door burst open revealing to them a panting Rinoa. Everyone's attention shifted from Quistis to the raven haired girl who looked like she ran a whole mile and back.

"Well," Quistis said as she smiled at the disgruntled figure of Rinoa. "Welcome back Rinoa." Rinoa gave Quistis a smile and apologized for being late.

"You see," she explained. "I went for my morning jog and I got kind of lost." Everyone just stared at her and Selphie looked relieved. "It's okay. Come, come, sit and join us." Rinoa gave Quistis a smile and made her way beside Selphie. "Whew, I thought you're not gonna come back in time! They were just about to mention the name of the nominees for VP." Selphie muttered to Rinoa as she sat down. "Well, I don't think I'd be nominated for that one."

Contrary to what Rinoa thought, she was indeed nominated. "Well, let's now go back to the nominees." Quistis said as Rinoa sat down. "There are only 3 people nominated out of 20 possible nominees. That's not a lot, and I do not think most of you know them that much so I'll ask them to introduce themselves here in front."

Quistis cleared her throat and mentioned the first two girls who were nominated. "First we have… Miss… Selena Lewinsky. Selena? Are you here?" she called out as she extended her neck to find Selena. "Oh there you are, come here in front."

Selena was a brunette who looked like she was taking up law and would pass it like a ball. She had her hair in a sleek ponytail and she looked stern. She took her place right next to Xu, who was eyeing her shoes."Okay, now the second nominee is a Miss… Julie…Julie Francis." Quistis raised her head to look for the second nominee.

This time Ms. Julie was a red head… who emanates a playful aura. She looked playful, not like Selena, she had the look of a person who's taking up Fine Arts. Although, they looked equally pretty. "Hello!" the red head waved to the crowd who responded a nonchalant hello. Quistis laughed and then cleared her throat to announce the last nominee.

_Oh I don't think I could be one of them now…I mean I wasn't here… better luck next year? Sigh. _"Lastly, the third nominee is…" the blonde snickered. "Also late to attend the meeting, but she is nominated." She said. "Well then… the last nominee is Miss Rinoa Heartily." _Oh crap me? I didn't expect that! OMG! _

"Well Rinoa? Come here." Rinoa nodded and went to go to the front. Everyone stared at her and they all seem to think she was an utter mess. She wore a huge t-shirt and baggy, worn out jeans, and her hair was tied in a messy pony tail, but nonetheless she looked ravishing. "Hey Quis, look at me…I look like a mess, can I not introduce myself?" Rinoa whispered to Quistis who was nice enough to say, "Okay, now we start the introductions last to first." Then she gave Rinoa a teasing smile. "You first Noa."

_Oh you are sooo dead Quistis! Why me? What the heck…now I need to set the standards! And both my competitors look better than me, as of now at least, and I haven't prepared anything because I was too… busy being problematic about that stupid news paper article!!_ Rinoa thought as she approached the podium. _Oh Hyne, wish me luck. Please don't let nonsense come out of my mouth! _She cleared her throat and began her impromptu speech.

"Uhm…Hi." _What a bad start… damn. _"My name is Rinoa Heartily, I am taking up Communication Arts, and I look like a mess." Everyone laughed at this statement and was intently listening.

_Great! I bagged them! I better make this speech as comical as possible! _"Well, so there… I am not prepared as you can see," she mentioned as she indicated her look.

"But I assure you I am prepared to serve you. Go IOP!" Everyone cheered for Rinoa's short speech. They all seemed to find her funny and she seemed she had a good sense of responsibility too.

"Well, that was surely entertaining," Quistis said as she walked to the podium to introduce the next candidate which was the red head."Now I shall call on the next one, Julie?" she called behind her shoulder.

Julie perked up as she was called and approached the podium so fast that she knocked the microphone and tipped it over. "Sorry about that, I was too eager I guess." Then she gave them the most dazzling smile; that everyone ogled and seemed to hang on to every word. "Haha. This is fun. Anyway…I better make a speech now." She said as she fixed the microphone.

"My name is Julie Francis, I know my name sounds weird for it sounds like I have no surname." Then she flipped her flaming red hair. "But as much as I don't want to be cheesy… I say I'll do my best with this task or job okay?" then she smiled again, it was so dazzling.

Quistis imitated Julie's movements as she approached the podium once again to announce the third and final candidate. "It doesn't suit me I guess." Then she stuck her tongue out to the audience as they booed her poor imitation. "I know, I know…I'll stick to this then." She cleared her throat and announced the last candidate; she was more serious than she was a while ago too. "Okay that was too serious; I call on Ms. Selena Lewinsky."

Selena stood from the couch she was sitting on behind the podium with the utmost grace; it was like she was gliding, and not walking. "Thank you Quistis. Well now, I shall introduce myself," she said with her voice like silk. "I am Selena Lewinsky, I am of Russian-Jewish descent and I am running for the position that said I was to run for." She said it like she memorized it and yet she sounded spontaneous too. She was definitely the winner.

_Oh no, I think I just lost…30 to nothing. _Rinoa thought as she fidgeted in her seat. "Well, that is all and I would just like to say, I am not as serious as you may think I am." She smiled and stuck a tongue out. "Here Quis." She said as she handed the microphone to Quistis.

"So those are the people who you're going to choose from...so now I as ask you to raise your hands for Rinoa." Quite a lot of people raised their hands. "24…hmm okay..now for Julie." "One, two, three…" Xu was counting the votes as Quistis waited. "21…wow, close fight. One more candidate and then we'll know who."

An awful lot of people raised their arms. "Okay…how many was that Xu?" she turned to look at Xu, who was busy trying to sum all the votes. "22 Quis, it's 22 for Ms. Lewinsky."

_Oh my Hyne! I knew it I would lose!! I knew it!!_ Rinoa was looking for a place to breathe…because they were placed in another room.

"Well, if I may ask the candidates to come out of the room please." Quistis said as she told Xu to call the three women. "Hmm, so who do you think won?" she asked directly at the three women.

No one spoke from them, and Rinoa let out a goofy smile _oh what the heck, I'll smile for getting the lowest number of votes! _She thought she lost… but turns out…

"Okay the winner for the Vice President position is…" Quistis was purposely teasing the candidates just to see if they'll falter. "Ms. Rinoa Heartily."

Everyone applauded, Selphie was bouncing like a ball, everything was a blur…everything was spinning. _Oh shit it's like when I won captain…I'm slipping…away—_then everyone screamed.

Squall woke with a start when he heard the commotion inside the Iota house. **Oh Hyne, what happened this time! **He stood up from the cart and ran to the door. **No time to knock this time. **He pushed the door open and saw everybody huddling over a fallen figure.

**Oh shit that might be her.** Squall then approached the huddled pile of women and was able to pull Selphie out. Selphie was shocked to see him… a royalty in person. "Hey, tell me, what happened?!" panic was resonating all over Squall's little line. Selphie shook herself and was able to say: "It's Rinoa, she fainted."

**Shoot. **Squall pushed past the women and went to collect Rinoa in his arms. Everyone stared, some gasped, some also muttered incoherent words and some even yelped. "Quistis? Are you here?" He asked as he spun around to find the sorority's president. "I'm here!" Quistis was able to answer him after pushing past 5 girls to get to the clearing. "She's unconscious obviously and I think she hyperventilated."

Quistis stared at Rinoa and agreed of Squall's assessment. "We better take her to the hospital because the clinic here is—. " She was cut off. "—unreliable." Squall finished her sentence for her. "Correct. Um, we could use my car it's right outside." The disgruntled blonde said as she led him outside, shooing girls in the process. Squall rushed to the red Chrysler Crossfire. He placed Rinoa on the back seat and asked Quistis for her keys. "Be careful with that car, Squall!" she yelled as Squall revved up the engine. "I just got it last month…" the disgruntled and worried blonde said as Squall sped up the spine road.

Squall took Rinoa to the nearest yet the best hospital there is and had her confined in a room. He sat there and waited until Rinoa woke and talked to every doctor about how she is doing. "She's doing fine Mr. Leonhart no need to fret…she's going to be okay." Dr. Kadowaki said.

"Thanks Doc, I know I could count on you." The Doctor smiled as she checked Rinoa's temperature. "Well, Squall she'll be fine, I promise…but now I have to go for a while and before I forget say hi to your dad for me."

"Thanks doc, will do." Squall held Rinoa's hand whilst waiting for her to wake. He fell asleep for it was already two hours since she was confined and she was still unconscious.

_Where the heck am I? _Rinoa thought to herself as she heard the faint beeping of the IV machine. She then opened her eyes and was shocked to find Squall sleeping beside her bed. The sudden movement of her hand woke Squall from his nap and made him jump.

"Oh hey…you're okay now." He said as he stroked her cheek. "The doctors said you hyperventilated and fainted." Rinoa blushed and quickly said. "This always happen to me! I am used to it don't worry I'll be okay." Squall just looked at her. "Don't worry me like that again. And by the way I borrowed Quistis' car to get here." _I better thank Quistis then…and I better explain! _"Well, thanks Squall," Then she gave him a peck on the cheeks. "I promise I won't scare you next time."

"Good to hear."

_A/n: R & R thanks! sleeps now  
_


	17. Meet Miss Keena

_A/N: hey this is the edited version of this story, i didn't change much but i did clean it up. (this is what happens when you write on 2am!) anyway read it again :) i promise it's clean XD_

* * *

Chapter 17

_**Meet Miss Keena**_

The doctor let Rinoa out of the hospital after a day of being confined. Her aunt came by in the afternoon, on the verge of crying, she hugged Rinoa as tight as she can and was hysterically talking about her being worried sick.

"You made me worry so much! When Squall called earlier I didn't know if I would tell your mother or not…" she then looked at Squall, "I don't want her to meddle in things here but I also want her to know what happened to you." Then she sobbed.

Turning purple by the second because her aunt was squeezing her too much, Rinoa was gasping for air like crazy and her aunt doesn't seem to notice. Squall held her aunt back saying that Rinoa just went through hyperventilation and here she comes to choke her again.

"Aunt Cecile! Please let Rinoa loose…. She just went through hyperventilation and we wouldn't want her to have another one because you squeezed her too much." Squall explained.

Aunt Cecile calmed down and let Rinoa go, sobbing in the process, while Rinoa gasped for air and asked her if she DID tell her mom. "Uhm," gasps "aunt, did you tell mom about this?"

Her aunt just shook her head and Rinoa let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Auntie!" then Rinoa talked about what happened to her. When she was done Aunt Cecile seemed to have calmed down even more and asked, "Rinoa, do you mind if I do not stay here? I need to tend to the business tomorrow, so I don't really have much time in my hands, and I think your classes starts tomorrow… so I guess you'll be needing to go straight to the Uni… but then I won't be able to help you get there… see, um, because… uh…" then she gasped for air and was utterly torn.

Squall interjected and told her he'll be the one to stay there for the night and he'll also take Rinoa back to the dorms at the University. "She'll be fine, Aunt Cecile, don't worry." Squall assured the nervous woman.

"I just hope this doesn't get to her mother… oh well, thank you dear and now I guess I got to go." Then she collected her things, gave Rinoa a kiss on the forehead and went home.

"Auntie, I want you to know that mom knows this happens to me almost all the time." She thought earnestly for a situation she could tell her aunt. "Um…Like this one time when I won captain for the cheerleading squad… I fainted and didn't wake up till dusk 2 days after." Then she gave the nicest smile she could muster. Her aunt seemed to have calmed down after her little explanation.

"Well, I believe you. But please don't make such a scene next time… okay?" Her aunt motioned to the door and Squall opened it for her.

"Whew!" Squall breathed. "And I though she was going to take you back to Deling." He strode to Rinoa's side and whispered: "Because, surely I'll go there and carry you on my back and take you back here."

Rinoa had goose bumps rise on her back as Squall whispered and rested his head on her collar. "Uh…Squall… the nurse might be coming any minute…. Um…" Rinoa said but Squall seemed to have dosed off to dream land.

"Um..Squall? Hun?" "Mmmm… lemme stay like this for a little while longer…." Then he wrapped his arms around Rinoa and fell asleep.

_Oh Hyne, why is doing this right now? I'm getting stupid thoughts and I am sick! I am supposed to be sick! HYNE HELP ME. _Rinoa fidgeted on her bed while Squall started to snore.

"Um…" just before Rinoa woke Squall up to make him move the door opened to reveal Selphie. _Oh shit I thought visitors weren't allowed anymore?! Maybe she persuaded them again! _"OH! I'm so sorry for not knocking!" Sephie turned furiously red and turned around to give them a bit of privacy.

"Oh no no, don't worry! Um…he fell asleep while waiting for me to wake up and I think he thinks I'm his pillow. HAHA." _I hope that excuse worked.  
_

"Oh I see, he's such a nice guy… unlike what they said when I first got to the Uni. They said he never talked to anyone and was one of the best students there." Selphie was now sitting on the couch where Squall should be.

"Well, he's not really a man of many words…but even his father said that he changed a bit when he met me." Rinoa said thoughtfully.

"Wait! Rewind! You actually MET his father?!" the brunette was now standing near the bed and was grasping the bars to emphasize her point.

"Well, yeah of course, over my first week here… I did." The raven haired girl tried to hush the excited brunette just not to wake Squall up. "We became "We" then."

The brunette clasped her hand over her mouth and whispered: "You've met, like, the King of Esthar. We all dream of meeting him, even the bitch Keena." Then she went back to the couch.

Squall shifted his position letting loose his grasp on Rinoa. She took the opening and removed his arms around her so that she could crawl to the end of the bed and chat with Selphie. "Tell me Selph," she said as she folded her legs. "Who's Keena?"

The brunette stood from the couch to sit in front of Rinoa. "Well, to start off, she's the most popular freshman in our campus, well that was until the magazine clip of you and him." She added while pointing to the pillow hugging Squall.

Rinoa looked at him and smiled then asked Selphie, "How did you know her?" Selphie thought for a while and remembered the incident where she met Keena. "Well, I met her on the Uni tour last May. She was my partner since she was an old student here she was my tour guide." Then she snapped her fingers.

"What? Why? What exactly did she do?" Rinoa asked the now excited Selphie.

"Of course! That is why she was really furious when I saw her this morning! She couldn't be? Him and her?!" then her eyes travelled from left to right then up to down.

"Um…Selphie are you okay?" Rinoa was worried and thought she might be having a seizure or something.

"Huh? Yeah of course I am. I was just talking to myself I do that most of the time." She explained.

Rinoa looked at her intently and asked, "What's this about her and him?"

"You see when we were in the tour Squall was also a tour guide. She always gave him side glances whenever we came across his pair." Selphie thought.

"I think they were already over by then… and Squall didn't look happy either." She continued.

Rinoa was now thinking and was kind of curious about why they split or was there even something between the two.

"So what happened this morning?" She asked just to break the ice.

"Well, this morning I saw her holding this magazine and you were there! I saw you in the mag and you were squashed under his face! The picture was so intense and she was too!" Rinoa gulped as Selphie continued her story.

"She tore the page into two and went back to the dorms. I think she may be jealous." When Selphie was done Rinoa was pale and was nervous.

"Um…you don't think she'll want to kill me? I mean it's not like it's my fault…Squall took me there and and…" Rinoa was lost in her own imaginations and thoughts that only Selphie noticed that Squall was now behind her.

"Rin, calm down, she won't bother you." He whispered into her ear. Rinoa faced him and said, "But, she was really furious with the picture! She must really hate me! I don't like to be hated!" she panicked like crazy that Selphie found it funny.

"You know what Rinoa, you better get used to it by now…"she said.

"Because a lot of girls are now jealous of you and some idolize you. Anyway, I gotta go now, see you later or tomorrow in the dorms…" then she waved.

"Oh and by the way, they moved the start of classes to next week." Selphie then stood up and left the two to sort the problem they now have.

"Squall what do I do? I'm not used to people hating me! Jealousy and idolization I could handle, but hate?!" She was obviously panicking and Squall found it cute.

"You know, you're cute when you panic." He said as Rinoa blushed furious and realized that she had bed hair and was wearing a hospital gown. _How can I be cute now?!_ Squall hugged her and said, "Lemme explain everything okay?"

"She was my girlfriend and we dated for a year," Squall explained as he positioned Rinoa in front of him. "We were the quintessential couple of the senior year in Esthar High, everybody knew about us and we were both popular and rich as heck."

Rinoa seemed to have calmed down just by hearing Squall's voice. Squall noticed and went on with his story. "She transferred there when we were in our sophomore year, her friends and my friends were friends so we ended up being friends with each other." He said while staring at her intently.

"We were the only one in our group that wasn't paired with each other and they often teased us. She became furiously popular whilst I, remained popular as ever." He paused to check up on Rinoa, which was now calm and intently listening. "The teasing went on but this time it got worse they were pressuring me to for it and ask her out. But come time we entered our third year, she was gorgeous but she also had boyfriend."

Squall then smirked as he remembered an obviously funny memory. "She was with one of the football players, and they were great together. But I already had my eyes on her so we battled for her, she didn't want it to happen but me and my friends were all decided and determined to win her. So we had soccer match, me and her boyfriend, winner gets to take her to the JS prom." He then smiled as he recalled the story.

"Of course, I won." He continued. "I made my move then and won her heart. We dated the whole senior year, but I left her for a reason she thought she was the only one who knew." He then frowned and continued his story while checking if Rinoa was okay with this.

"She screwed her ex on the night of our first anniversary, according to her friends, she was drunk and they didn't want me to tell her that I knew what happened." Rinoa was now sitting up again and asked, "How did you find out she screwed her ex?"

Squall was caught off guard a bit by Rinoa's sudden question but he answered. "Well, I saw them at it, my friends saw them first, like two times before me and they tried to tell me, stupid me didn't believe them but I did saw them doing it." He continued. "She promised that she was only going to do it with me when she feels the burn and need to do so, but heck she was better with him than she was with me when we did it."

_Oh Hyne, that's a big hit for me to take! No worries, me and Squall would eventually come to that…I mean…oh heck what am I thinking? Better listen to Squall now…Rinoa, FOCUS NOW!!!! _Squall noticed Rinoa's uneasiness and asked if she was okay.

"Yeah I am, it's just my dextrose is so painful and itchy, nevertheless I am all good, please continue." She said as she massaged her, really, painful hand. Squall took it and kissed it for her. Rinoa blushed and thanked Squall. _Oh hyne… he's such a nice person.  
_

"So there, I didn't bust them when they were doing it; I waited for the next day to break her dear heart. But, being the bitch she is she pretended to not be wavered by it. When I talked to her friends to check up on her, they said she was still crying over the whole break up thing." He said while looking massaging Rinoa's hand.

"I didn't want to graduate there because of that reason and another was that I hate the military style of graduating. She was a regular student though." Squall then added, "I never took her to meet my family although she knew I was the son of the president."

Rinoa fidgeted again and asked him, "This maybe a stupid question, but please indulge me." Squall raised his eyebrow and asked, "In what way?" He then kissed her left cheek.

"Not that type! Gosh!" Rinoa blushed scarlet and Squall laughed his ass off.

"What's so funny?!" she asked in outrage.

"It's your face Rin; anyway what is your question?" Squall tried hard to contain his laughter and Rinoa gave him a pout.

"Will you please be serious?" She asked.

"Okay, I'm sorry. What is it?" He asked her again.

"Well, I was just curious," she finally asked while eyeing him. "You said you caught them in the act, where exactly?"

Squall thought for a while then spoke, "What a weird thing to be curious about, but I think I saw them under the bleachers of the soccer field." Then he smiled. "She had a weird fetish and loved to do it in places that she thinks she'd get caught."

Rinoa remembered Derrick and the times they spent together. She shuddered in thought, Squall seemed to notice but he just smiled at her. "Ooh, she's really something." That was all Rinoa could say.

"Well, we did it four times, if you must know," he continued, "first was in the teacher's dormitory shower rooms. The second was in the fourth floor girl's CR. The third," he was thoughtful for a moment then spoke, "I think it was in her parent's bedroom, she was really excited then."

Then he thought earnestly, again, for the last one, "Oh we just did it thrice, because the fourth was supposed to be on our anniversary but she did him then not me."

Rinoa's mouth was curled into a frown when he finished with his story. Squall noticed and immediately asked if she was okay. "Are you okay Rin? Is your hand hurting again?" His face was so near hers when he asked that Rinoa was startled.

"No, no, I'm okay!" she said. "I was just thinking." Squall's face formed a frown.

"I'm sorry for making you listen to all those parts, I should've noticed… I'm sorry okay?" Rinoa just nodded and hugged him. "Okay, I got my bed time story; maybe I should go to sleep too. Um… if it's not too much to ask Squall, but can you please sleep beside me tonight?" she smiled at him and patted the extra space on her bed. "No problem."

-

* * *

The next morning Squall took Rinoa back to the dormitories, people here and there were looking at her and were all wearing concerned looks, some even asked if she was okay. Rinoa always just nodded and gave them a smile. Quistis was atop the stairs waiting for them to arrive.

"Rinoa! I was so worried! I wanted to visit but," She then looked at Squall. "My car was not here and I couldn't commute there. Also, Tilmitt didn't ask me to come with!" The blonde rushed to her and hugged her so tightly.

"I'm okay now Quistis, Squall was there to take care of me." She said.

"Quistis she'll talk to you later, but right now, she has to go to sleep again. The travel made her kind of woozy again and she needs her medication." Squall interjected.

"Oh, of course, how stupid of me!" she said as she slapped her forehead and led them to her room. Squall opened the door for her and then bade her goodbye the instant she was settled. "I need to take care of some business back at our house now, I'll be back later."

He gave her a kiss and went on his way, leaving Quistis and Rinoa alone. "Okay, I'll personally get you a maid!" Rinoa laughed.

"I thought you were going to say you're going to personally take care of me." She teased the blonde whose face bore the look of worry.

"You dream too much, anyway I'll leave you to settle and you could come down anytime you need to." The blonde instructed before she shut the door. "Thanks Quis!" Rinoa said.

_Okay now I am all alone in my room… I should sleep for a while and I'll go out in a few.  
_

Rinoa dozed off in a couple of minutes; she didn't even change her clothes. When she woke up a couple of hours later, everybody was already busy in their own rooms and she didn't want to bother anybody, so she went down stairs and got herself some food.

_Heck, I'm hungry I better see what we have in the pantry.  
_

She opened the cabinet and saw nothing she liked. "I better just go out and grab dinner in a restaurant; I wouldn't want to bother Squall so I'll walk." She said to herself.

She grabbed her jacket and went out to go to the restaurant in the campus. "Selphie said the food here sucks, but what the heck."

As she approached the door to the restaurant a group of women were talking loudly and it stopped her from opening the door. One of them seemed to be on the phone and the others were talking with one another.

The one on the phone was screaming, "…I said I didn't know! I just found out too!...oh, no! Don't blame me! It wasn't my fau—don't start to be my mother because you are just a step!" then she heard the phone shut.

"Hey girl, don't fuss about it, it'll be fine just don't take it out on me." All of them laughed and commented about the statement. Rinoa decided to not wait for them and go in the restaurant.

"_Welcome to Esthar U Burglar Burgers_!" said the door speaker. Rinoa immediately approached the counter and was now thinking what she'd get.

_There are no people here. That is super odd; I guess its high tech here.  
_

"Well I'll take the U burger with fries and a soda." She said to nobody, the computer responded, "That would be 5Gil."

Rinoa paid and took her ready order and sat down on the corner table when the group she over heard busted in.

"What shall we order today?" one asked.

"Well, I'm sick of food here, just get me a soda." Another one said. And the one on the phone asked the other one to get her a large fries and a soda.

She then settled herself on the table on the other side of the room. Rinoa took no mind of them and ate her burger silently. The other girls were whispering to one another.

"I think that is her….hey, Keena! Don't you think she looks like the girl that was in the pic?" one asked. The blonde extended her neck and said, "Yeah I think it's her…" then she left her friends to talk to the oblivious Rinoa.

"I'll go introduce myself." Then she winked at her friends, "You better back me up on this one." She stood up and went to Rinoa.

"Hello there." She said.

Rinoa looked up and swallowed her burger. "Yes?" she asked.

"Aren't you the girl from the magazine?" she asked.

_This girl is rude.  
_

"Yes, the one in the big photo, which is me. Why?" Rinoa answered, clearly annoyed.

The blonde flipped her hair and said, "Nothing at all, I was just curious…" she said. "By the way, Rinoa, my name is Keena Williams; I bet you have heard about me, because I have definitely heard of you."

Meanwhile, Squall went to Rinoa's dorm to check up on her only to find out she was missing and no one saw where she went.

* * *

_A/N: i told you it was clean~er LOL thanks! R &R xD_


	18. An Eventful Night

_**Chapter 18**_

_**An Eventful Night**_

Squall went down from his own room after sleeping for half the day. "I wonder what'll we have for dinner, I'm starving." The brunette thought to himself as he descended down the staircase. "OUCH!" he suddenly exclaimed, after hitting his head on a loose floor board of one of the higher steps.

"Zell! Will you please fix this frigging floor board?!" he yelled as he saw the blonde martial artist come out from behind the column.

"Why should I? It's not my job anyways… it's Kinneas'." The blonde responded as he went to the kitchen. "Well, you better ice that head Squall."

_Damn… My brain hurts…and I don't feel hungry anymore. _Squall thought as he clutched his throbbing forehead.

"Hey Capt. Puberty, what are you doing clutching your head like that?" another blonde emerged from one of the offices on the ground floor and patted his head. "You seem to have become clumsier than before…tsk, tsk, this is just not good." He shook his head mockingly while trying to suppress a smile.

"I might demote you because of this…" he added as he rubbed his chin.

"Real funny, Seif." Squall smirked. "I'm just gonna ice this…" indicating his throbbing forehead. "I'm not so hungry anymore." He added.

"Aww…" Another voice, now coming from the kitchen, startled, the already dizzy, Squall. "But I cooked the dinner—western style steaks baby!"

Irvine was carrying a huge tray with some steaks and gravy. "This is my specialty." He was beaming and was super proud of what he made.

"Look, I just lost my appetite…" he said as he clutched his head even more. "I'm just going to get some ice for my forehead and I'll eventually head out." The brunette said as he went to the fridge to get some ice. "Maybe next time, cowboy."

"That sounded gay man…" Irvine replied while shaking his head. "Anyway sure thing," (quick recovery) "want me to save some for you?" The cowboy asked.

"Sure, I'd appreciate that. Anyway I gotta go check up on Rinoa." Squall said as he checed the grandfather clock in the receiving area and saw that it was a quarter past 9pm. _Shoot. _"She should be taking her medications, or else, she'll get woozy." He muttered to himself unconsciously.

"Wow, lover boy. He he he." Seifer coaxed from behind. "She'll be fine, man. You are so head over heels for this girl…can this be love?" he teased while batting his eyelashes and was protruding his lips towards Squall; while Irvine and Zell pretended to be angels with harps and huge wings.

"This is stupid you guys, I really need to be going there." The brunette finally getting sick of it, pushed past the three stooges and went to open the large oak doors.

Seifer sighed and then laughed. "I guess he really is in love…" he said to himself quietly. "Boys,"

"It's a success!" Zell cheered. Seifer smacked him on the head.

"No you idiot! It's an accomplishment!" Irvine interjected before Zell could retort to what Seifer just did. "An accomplishment for the three—"

"STOOGES!" Zell, once again, exclaimed.

This time both Irvine and Seifer smacked him on the head. "Idiot! We're the three musketeers!" the cowboy elaborated.

"MUS-KE-TEERS!" the other blonde added and muttered something incoherently as he glared at the martial artist for calling him a stooge.

* * *

Meanwhile, Squall was jittery and excited to see Rinoa that he almost fell three flights down the front stairs. "…you idiot! It's an accomplishment!" _He He Irvine's scolding Zell again; I could almost imagine Seifer's face. But heck I need to really see her that I can't even see him properly in my head. _

Squall rushed to his golf cart and jumped start the car with utmost force that the engine didn't almost start. "Whoops, my hands were too heavy." He said as he tried to start it again properly. He sped up the corner turning left on the spine road and found himself face to face with the Iota House.

* * *

He gave the cart one final pump on the gas and then turned it off. "Hmm, it's seems quiet here." He murmured as he stepped out of the cart and went to approach the door.

_DING DONG!_

The doorbell resonated in the whole house that almost everybody was startled by it. Selphie even let the glass of water she was holding fall and spill all over the kitchen floor. "Dammit! Who the heck is that?!" she said as she wiped off the water and got a rag to clean the mess up. "Can someone answer the door please?! I am kind of busy here!" she said indicating her present predicament.

"So sorry Selph, Imma get the door." A freshman on the other corner said. She went to open the door to reveal the whistling Squall. The freshman almost fainted when she realized, after a couple of seconds, who it was.

"I, um, hi?" Squall said, clearly perplexed.

"Err…um… oh my Hyne," the freshman murmured while her eyes were affixed on his face. "Um…"

Squall was starting to feel awkward and was going to say something that was, err…obviously mean, because his eyebrow was already raised. But before he was able to hail mean words to the dumbstruck freshman, Selphie intervened and asked him why he was there.

"Um… Margaret, you mind stepping sideways? I'll handle the guest you can go back to what you were doing just now." She said as she gave Squall an apologetic side glance and shooed the dreamy frosh. "So sorry about that Squall!" she said as she went and led him to the porch. "You mind talking here instead? I mean for the safety of the other sisters?" Squall just smiled and nodded. "So, came to see Rinoa?" she asked.

"Yeah. I wanted to check if she took her meds, I mean she hasn't answered her phone and I don't know your number so… I decided to check on her personally." The brunette replied as his eyes wandered to the staircase, which was visible through the thin lavender curtains. Selphie took note of this and smiled. "I think she's still asleep. Do you want to come up to our room and wake her up?" she suggested as she motioned to the doorway.

"Uh…sure." He said as the bouncing Selphie led him inside, to be stared and wooed at by the other women. He felt like a movie star walking on the red carpet and the women were taking photographs of him with their eyes. Selphie rolled her eyes at a couple of junior sisters who were ogling at the only man in the room.

"So this is how a movie star feels like," Squall whispered to Selphie. "and I even heard some saying I'm the "Prince" or something." Selphie just nodded then giggled at what Squall heard. "Well, technically… you are one."

As they reached the room, Selphie stomped her foot. "Why? What's wrong?" Squall asked thinking that it might make Rinoa up. "Is something wrong…errr…Selph?"

"Oh my Hyne! I am so sorry Squall! I totally spaced out from the broken glass and the stupid frosh, that I totally forgot that she's not here!" Selphie explained. "I'm sorry!" Squall was thoughtful for a moment and then asked, "Where is she then?"

"I think she went out to eat or something… I wanted to tag along but I was too late and wasn't able to catch up to her. I'm really sorry for not saying sooner!" Selphie replied as she started fiddling with her dress' pleats. Squall looked at her for a while and finally said, "Well, I better check the restaurants around campus first, if she was on foot then she won't be able to go out." Then he went downstairs and straight to the front door. Selphie was quickly following his wake. "I can't tag along this time! I have chores!" she yelled as she halted on the porch of the house.

Squall gave a small wave and started his golf cart to go back to the Kappa Gamma house and get his Jaguar. "I better get my Jag; I don't think it'd be an easy chase with her tonight." He said as he turned right.

* * *

He ran up to his room and bumped into Irvine on the way. "Hey man, how is she feeling?" he asked the rushing Squall. It's seems as though he wasn't heard because he just went into his room and grabbed his keys. "Okay…thanks for talking… goodbye!" Irvine called out while scratching his head. "That was weird."

Squall ran to his car and revved up the engine and within 3seconds he was back on the road on his way to his first destination… the Brewing Cup. The Brewing Cup is the only coffee shop inside the campus and was famous for their Fly Coffee…wherein they send your cup and saucer with hot coffee, sugar and cream, flying towards you. Some get hurt, but hey, it's a trend so why not?

"Shoot. I don't think she'd be here." He said to himself as he pulled over in front of the store, whose door sign read 'CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS.' "So much for a near by coffee shop. I better check out the Italian café." He said as he started up his engine again and went left from the coffee shop.

* * *

­­

Meanwhile, Rinoa was being held captive by a group of students who are apparently angry at her. She tried to let loose their grasp but to no avail, they only tightened it.

"What? Did you really think we'd let you get away from us? After what you did… we'd never let you outta our sight!" Keena yelled. Then the blonde snapped her fingers at the other girls behind Rinoa to make them tighten their grip even more.

"Just a little bit more time and we'll tie her up. Make sure she stays in that position until then!" she said to the others behind her. There were a total of 6 women in the restaurant and Rinoa was, sadly, one of them.

Keena motioned to the others to find rope and duct tape in the premises… but there was none. "What the hell? They don't even have packaging tape?!" she yelled at her posse. "Do I have to provide everything?! Celine!" she snapped her fingers towards the brunette on her right. "Go get the tape and rope from the Zeta Beta house! Now!" Celine nodded once and went on her way.

"Don't worry; I won't let my sorority get tainted…" then she grabbed Rinoa's chin and forced her to look at her. "I'm going to use one of the boys' supplies—because you are not special." Then she threw her head back with such force that it hurt her nape. The girls behind Rinoa were becoming tired from holding her like that.

_Ugh… finally their grips loosen up. I think I could escape but I need to distract them… how? Keena? I need to talk to Keena… if I get her pissed enough… she'd try to hurt me… and if she does these two would have to let go…. But I only have until Celine comes back with the duct tape or else… I'm screwed._

"Hey Keena," the kneeling Rinoa said. "You think you're special by being like this? And you think no one can compare to you… when in fact a whore can satisfy better than you do." _Oh Hyne this is it!_

"—Wait—what did you just say to me?!" she was a bit shaken by Rinoa's comment. "You're saying that YOU could satisfy better than me?" Keena retorted.

"No… I am saying a WHORE…. W-H-O-R-E, can satisfy better than you do… I for one am not a whore, maybe you're 'sisters' are but not you." Rinoa said. She looked proud of herself when Keena suddenly threw her phone and yelled.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were one." She said as she tried to look composed. "but I guess, road-kills can't become prostitutes." _Is this the best she's got?! My Hyne, I have her eating on the palm of my hands._

At that exact moment Celine came back holding some duct tape and rope, "I went through the shortcut and got cut." She said as she showed them her bleeding arm. "We'll clean that up later… right now I want the rest of you to tie this bitch up." Keena ordered the others to do as she says and to make sure Rinoa was not able to escape.

_Dammit! I ran out of time! Ugh… the ropes are hurting my wrists. _Rinoa's arms were already sweaty from being tightly grasped and held that her skin became soft. "Make sure you tie her up good, wrap her ankles too."

Keena went to pick up her phone and then smiled at Rinoa. "I'm sure you'll be fine… only bruises and a couple of wounds." She said. "Now, "pet" I want you to tell me who you are."

"Hasn't the magazine article mentioned anything? And I thought you're the Queen of Gossip?" Rinoa said while writhing. Keena took notice of her pain and said, "You speak like you hold the Ace card, when in fact, it is with me… and it's not against you." Then she smiled again. She looked like an angel—an angel from hell. "It's against your boyfriend."

* * *

Squall went to the Italian café but there wasn't anyone there either. **Dammit Rin, where are you?! **He thought as he turned 180degrees towards the exit and went to outside campus to go to the other near restaurants. "I guess she'd be outside, I mean food there is better." He said to himself as he checked his watch. It read 11:58pm; **damn it's late. Where could she be?**

"Would any restaurant outside entertain customers even at this time of the night?" he said as he killed his engine to go and walk outside and check out the restaurants. He checked every restaurant and every food stall he could find, but Rinoa wasn't there. He checked his watch again and it read 12:30AM. He's been walking for almost an hour now and Rinoa was still nowhere to be found.

"Where the hell are you?!" Squall yelled out loud, out of frustration. Everybody on the street turned their heads to find who yelled. Good thing he was wearing a black hoodie and was able to cover up most of his face or else there would another issue for him to resolve.

**And I haven't even fixed up the older issue, which is the cause why Rinoa got pretty sick. Oh wait, it was her winning that is to blame for her getting sick! Not the article, not the issue...Whew! **He said as he went back to his black Jag and went back to the dorms. "Maybe she went back already?" he asked himself.

"But she'd try to call me or at least SMS, because I left her like…15 messages and 22 missed calls." He said as he sped up the front gate of their campus. **Maybe I just missed a couple of buildings or establishments? Or she might've fallen back to sleep… I don't know… damn I hate this. **

He thought again as he reached the Iota house. "Dammit, I'm back from where I came from." He checked his watch again to find that it was already 1:15AM. "Shoot." **I wonder if Selphie is still awake… if I could only find her number… oh wait I have a tracker! From dad of course. **

Squall went to rummage the passenger seat for his bag. He searched his bag for the green phone. "Aha! Found you." He said as he pulled a green plastic phone out of his bag.

"Now, who am I looking for again…ah… Selphie… Selphie… uh… I think it was Tilmitt?" he asked himself as he punched in his username and password. He then typed in Selphie Tilmitt and got two phone numbers, one was for the Iota house and another was her personal cell number. **Why didn't I just asked for her number while I was there?**

"There!" he exclaimed as he dialed the number with his phone.

**I must remember to thank Dad for this nifty gadget. And I thought tracking people only applies in movies! Well I guess being with Rinoa is like a movie… wait, scratch that…way too cheesy! **

He laughed at what he was thinking and was intently waiting for Selphie to pick up. He checked his watch again and saw that it was already 1:30AM. **Is this watch a joke? It's that late?!**

Finally, after the 15th ring, Selphie picked up. "ungh…. Herro?" she said in a weird voice. "Hey Selph, it's me Squall." Selphie checked her watch and saw that it was 1:30AM. "Wow, it's really late Squall, anyway, what can I help you with?" then she yawned.

"So sorry to wake you up, but I was wondering if Rinoa is back there now?" he asked anxiety and worry present in his voice.

_Wow he's really nervous… _"Um, so sorry Squall but she hasn't come back, I figured she was with you already and I didn't bother calling you… sorry." Then another yawn escaped her lips.

"Oh okay…thanks Selph. I'll go look for her." Squall said and bade Selphie a goodnight then snapped his phone close. **Dammit Rinoa! **He thought as he started up his engine again.

* * *

­­­

Rinoa was being held against the wall by Keena's posse. And to add to the feeling of being squashed against the wall, she was also feeling her wrists being scratched severely by the chaffing of tender skin against rough ropes. _Oww… shoot, who can save me at this hour? SQUALL! _She desperately prayed that he show up.

Keena was eyeing her as she ordered the girls to let Rinoa loose. "Let her loose, I have had my fun." She said devilishly as she approached Rinoa.

"Aww..." she cooed. "Look at your poor wrists… they're so red… oh! And look at the other one," she said as she pointed Rinoa's left wrist, which was covered in scarlet blood. "It's already bleeding."

_This bitch… I just wish I could kick her ass right now! _Rinoa desperately tried to distract herself from her bleeding wrist. _Heck I just got out of the hospital! Am I that unlucky?! _

She tried to move towards Keena and lash, at least her teeth, on her. But to no avail…her legs were buckling up and she was held paralyzed. Keena laughed at her unsightly appearance. Rinoa was kneeling and her hair was messed up, not to mention that her clothes were all wrinkled and blood stained. She also had a new bruise to come up on her left and right arms, and on her right cheek bone too. She was definitely a sight.

"Aww, I'm having such fun with you!" Keena exclaimed. "But I am a bit tired… I guess I should just finish this." She let out a yawn then called for Celine again.

"Celine… can you finish this up for me?" She asked her sweetly. Then said something like, "…double the dosage… " and Rinoa was not able to hear anything anymore because Celine approached her with a handkerchief and held it against her mouth and nose. "Wait! What is th—." She tried to protest but she fell, almost, instantly out.

"That's a wrap! Now we go." Keena snapped as she led the way back to their dorms.

* * *

Squall was roving the campus thinking that Rinoa might've fainted while walking and thus cannot make it back to her dorm. "Rinoa… where could you be?" **damn**

Then Squall came across a poster of Burglar Burgers, and was petrified. "Damn I totally forgot about that place!" he said as he made a U-turn and double backed to the maid road. He sped up and found himself facing the establishment.

He killed his engine and went to check up the place. As soon as he tried to push past the door, his attention was caught by a small moan.

**What was that? I think it came from behind the counter.** He carefully went to check it out. "Hello? Is anyone here?" he asked out. But no one answered.

He went to the counter and checked behind it and found, under the sink, a black haired creature that was writhing in pain. He rushed to her side and tried to wake her up. But to no avail she was out cold. **Shoot! Why does this always happen?!**

He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. Then he dialed Ellone's number. "Hello? Sorry to wake you up; but something came up, I'm coming over. No, I'm not alone, I'm bringing Rinoa along. Make sure you have a room ready okay? Ayt, I'll see you in a few." He then shut his phone again and collected Rinoa in his arms.

The bruises on her face were already starting to form and she's starting to writhe in pain again as she was regaining consciousness. "Hush…" Squall kept whispering to her as he placed him on the back seat of his car and revved up the engine to head to the palace.

* * *

"Squall!" Ellone said as she descended the main stairs of their home. "You sounded weird on the phone, are you okay?" she was very nervous and not to mention shaken by the sudden call from her brother at 3am.

"Is the room ready?" he asked

Ellone just nodded and said, "Everything you asked for are ready, I don't know why you want Dr. Yang but I did call him and he's in the clinic." She was having a hard time catching up to Squall who was panting because of the extra weight on his arms.

That was the time when Ellone noticed the bundle in his arms. "Squall, what or who is—oh my Hyne! Rinoa!" she exclaimed as she saw the pale white skin from behind the messy hair. "What happened?" she kept asking Squall.

Squall just went straight to the clinic and placed Rinoa on a chair and waited for the doctor. Ellone finally caught up with them and said, "What the hell Squall?!" she said the moment she opened the door. "Oh my Hyne," then she got distracted by Rinoa again. "What happened?" she asked once more as she took a look at Rinoa's wounds.

"Can't you use Cure or Curaga on them Elle?" Squall finally spoke.

"I could, but it'll only make the wounds go away, not necessarily bring back the blood she lost." She said as she started to heal the wound. "Any ideas on how this happened?" she asked again.

"None." He said as the doctor came in and went to fix Rinoa up. "Oh my, what happened to her?" he asked. "I don't know doctor, I just saw her like that."

As soon as Ellone finished up with the wound, the doctor went to check up on her. "She seems diluted. By, I think…" he said as he scraped up some traces of powder on her nose. He put the substance under his microscope and found out that there are traces of Floutane, a component used to create sleeping gas. "She's been put to sleep. I am not sure how huge the dosage or inhalation of this is but I shall check." He said as he got a syringe from the cabinet and some isopropyl alcohol.

"Ellone, can you help me?" he asked as he pointed to the cotton balls near her. She went and gave it to Dr. Yang. He inserted the syringe to Rinoa's arm and drew blood.

"I'm sorry, I know she lost blood but we have to do this to make sure." Squall just nodded and after he was finished he asked if he could take Rinoa to her room.

Then he carried her again, this time he took her to her room which was right in front of his room. "Look Ellone," he said as he went to open the door. "I do not want her aunt to find out about this, because the moment she does, Rinoa'll be pulled out of the school and be sent back to Deling." He explained to his dumbstruck sister.

Ellone didn't move or said anything just nodded and decided to gather clothes for Rinoa. "I'll call you when she's dressed." She said as she let Squall out of the room. _I wonder what happened to her… her face is all bruised up. Poor girl._

She went to call Squall up and said that she's all set. "Thanks Elle, you better get some rest." He said. "Don't worry about me, if you want to stay here it is fine, you could sleep on the other bed… you had quite a night too, get some rest. As for your school," she added remembering that that morning was the first day of classes. "I'll call them. Using our family name." then she bade them goodbye and went to her own room.

* * *

That morning, Squall was sleeping on the bed beside Rinoa's and was snoring. He didn't even bother changing.

"Ungh…" Rinoa said as she regained consciousness. "Where am I?" she asked aloud. Squall woke up the moment he heard foreign sounds. "Rinoa!" he exclaimed.

"What are these?" Rinoa asked him. "Why do I have dextrose? And why am I here at your place?" she said as she indicated the emblems on the covers.

"You don't remember anything?" Squall asked.

"Remember what exactly?" she asked him back.

* * *

_A/n: nanayt people... *yawn* R &R please _ _i kinda edited this XD_


	19. Hallucinations, Schemes and Promises

_A/N: Hey I am back! This time with a cleaner chapter and better plot (I hope.) Anyway, I still have no idea on how to fill the story in before I end it with a bang… I'm ranting now…enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 19

_**Hallucinations, Schemes and Promises**_

"What exactly do I need to remember?" Rinoa asked, clearly perplexed at her man's weird question. Squall looked equally confused and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Are you sick Rin? I think you still need to lie down…" he said as he tried to put her back to bed. But she protested by wriggling in his grasp and tried to push him away.

"NO!" she said clearly.

She searched Squall's face for answers and asked again, "What am I doing here?" Squall let her go and told her that he found her at Burglar Burger and she was already in that state. "You see, I didn't find the time to search for clues; I rushed you here." He explained as he felt that Rinoa might ask this.

"I am not blaming you Squall, I just want to know why I am here, and now that I know why… I wonder who did this to me." She said. "I don't remember anything, even if I force myself."

Then she turned to face Squall and reveal to him a bruised up right cheek. He tried to touch it but Rinoa just winced when he did.

"Do they still hurt? Your wrists I mean." He asked her as she touched it almost immediately when he asked.

"No, not anymore," Then she smiled at him. "But I am still queasy did I lose a lot of blood." Squall nodded and told her the queasiness will be gone if she stays still and lie down.

"Rin, I think you better sleep or else you'll get even dizzier." She just nodded as she let Squall lay her down on the bed. She thanked him and tried to go back to sleep.

* * *

After just a few minutes, her eyes fluttered open again and was frantically searching the room for Squall. _Oh Hyne, why am I so scared? _

_SQUALL!!! _She cried in her mind. She searched the room again, not trusting her initial search. "Squall?" she said. When no one responded, she tried to sit up, and when she did she got dizzy and it made her fall back to bed.

She didn't know where he was, and she was shaking as heck. _Why am I shaking? I was fine a moment ago. _She thought of some reasons on why she was scared. She was like traumatized or something.

"Squall?" she called out again. But alas, he wasn't there.

_I am in the Presidential Palace right? _She asked herself then looked at the crest on the bed sheet._ Well that proves it, but where is he?_ She was getting more scared by the moment so she decided to get up and go look for Squall.

She started to get rid of the comfy quilts and blankets when she heard voices outside. "Did you hear, this morning at about 3am they say, the Prince arrived with a bloody woman?"

Rinoa stopped in her actions and thought, "3am? Why would Squall be carrying a bloody woman at 3am?" then she gasped. _I was bloody on 3am?! Oh yeah I was, but… where is Squall now?_ She sat up and awaited the dizziness to attack. _Oh heck here we go. _

"Ungh…" she groaned as she clutched her forehead as she was getting the biggest migraine and hangover of the century. _My head hurts, but I need to find Squall, I'm too scared to stay here alone. _

As she stood up, her legs gave in and she fell to the floor, hitting her bruised face on the carpet in the process. "Ouch….ungh…" she said as she sat up again on the carpeted floor and clutched her bruise and her head. "This sucks!" she protested as she mustered all the strength and will power to stand and walk. She was successful and she cheered herself inwardly as she opened the door to reveal the familiar hallway.

_Okay, which way is the main hall again? _She asked. "I think it was this way…" she said to herself as she pointed to the left wing. She started to walk, and she was swaying. "Oh no…" she said as the hallway begun to spin, and turn into two. _What is this; frigging Harry Potter?! _And with that thought she fell on the floor with a thud.

* * *

"Selphie!" Quistis called. "Where's your roommate? Where's Rinoa?!"

The Iota house was in code Alpha A.K.A. "Someone-is-missing-we-should-panic" mode. Sisters of all kinds and ages were frantically making phone calls and searching the missing department of the school in record breaking time. "Everyone is in the state of panic and you are the only person who could really say where she is!" Quistis said as she clutched her hair, which was pulled into a neat bun.

Stress and panic were heavy in the Iota house, and Selphie was utterly perplexed. "Quis, I don't have any idea where she could be, she didn't come back home last night, I think she got lost or something." She said as she tried to recall if she didn't really come back.

Quistis turned her head to Selphie and asked, "Who searched for her? Can you contact that person?" she said so sternly that brunette got goose bumps. "Ookay, I'll try to contact him."

At that exact moment, the door burst open revealing men from the Kappa Gamma house. "BOOYA!" the shorter blonde yelled as they were revealed to the busy women of Iota. They all stared at him for a while then went back to their jobs.

"Well, today's first day of classes Quis, why don't we go to class together?" Seifer asked as he approached the tall blonde, who was wearing a pink cashmere sweater and a short butt hugging skirt, which she topped off with a pair of black knee-high stiletto boots. Seifer whistled as she turned to face him wearing his most unwanted look, the "I'm-President-Look".

"Well I am quite busy at the moment, juggling finding a missing person and the first day question and answer riot on our website." She said as she indicated the Macs and newspapers spread on the coffee table. "And besides, my class doesn't start until 1pm. Unlike you, I actually passed Algebra." She said.

Seifer's face turned red as he searched for his buddies for protection, sadly for him they were all busy mingling with the women of Iota. Quistis on the other hand, went back to her previous task: which is mandating the women to search for their missing sister.

"Who is the missing sister of the Iota house this time, eh?" the cowboy behind Seifer asked the small red haired frosh.

"Well," she replied while keying in the name of the missing person while typing a brief answer to the question someone just posted on their site. "Wow, you're good in multitasking." Irvine butted in. "Ahem, as I was saying," the red head continued, "We're looking for our sister, Rinoa."

Upon hearing the name Irvine's head shot up to the direction of the very busy martial artist, and called him to attention. But to no avail, Zell's head was busy affixed to the brunette in a mini dress and he was clearly thinking of how to impress the woman. The cowboy shook his head and went to Zell.

"Hey Bruce Lee," he said tapping him on the shoulder. Zell spun around to see who it was, and on the process, he tripped and "accidentally" bent backwards and smiled at the brunette, who blushed furiously.

"Can I just borrow him for a while Miss?" Irvine said to the brunette behind Zell. The brunette sat up with her mouth wide open, from being addressed by the cowboy hat wearing hottie.

"Well now, bagging some girls behind my back?!" Irvine hushed to Zell's right ear, making him jump because of the tickling sensation it caused him.

"No man! I was just impressing her, but don't you think she's kind of cute?" he said, adding a side glance at the girl. "Well, she is. That means, she's mine;" Irvine said. "Anyway, Rinoa's missing again."

Zell shook his head unbelievingly and was about to say something when he shut his mouth again, thinking it'd be better to shut up. "Why?!" was the only word he was able to utter.

"Well, I think someone took her or something." The cowboy said while looking at the brunette Zell was previously talking to. "Anyway, you better help Seifer," Irvine said as he pointed to the other blonde who was kneeling in front of Quistis, begging her to forgive him for being rude and arrogant. Zell took notice of the situation and decided to help.

"Hey Seif! Need any help?" he yelled as he approached the troubled Seifer.

"Now, it's time for me to mingle with that brunette hottie." The cowboy muttered as he raised his hat to give him a clearer view of the mini dress wearing, short haired, long legged and pouty lipped brunette.

He whistled as she shifted her position to a more comfortable seating position, cross-legged of course. He approached her like a predator would approach a prey..err… a prize.

"Well, she's hot no doubt." He said as he cleared his throat to introduce himself. "Ahem." He said announcing his arrival in front of her. She looked up and gave him a look of pure…shock.

"Uh," the cowboy looked around for who or what she was shocked about. "Um… are you okay?" Irvine held out a hand and said, "My name is Irvine, what's yours?" he said. And the moment he did, she gave the biggest grin she could muster and hugged him.

"Ookay! What's up?! Uh… miss? Are you okay? Err….Um… wait…whoa!" the cowboy exclaimed as she repeatedly jumped while hugging him, making him fall, almost, off balance. "Whoa! Are you okay Miss?" he said, looking quite shaken but happy of the reaction he got.

"Well, yeah… better in fact." She said fixing her own dress.

"Those are the first words you uttered Madame!" Irvine exclaimed and she blushed red again. "Well, I don't really know what to say to you at first." She said.

"Ahem… Mr. Irvine Kinneas, my name is," she said as she stood straight and saluted the confused cowboy. "Selphie Tilmitt."

The cowboy almost spit saliva at her as he tried to yell but no sound came out. He too, jumped for joy as he realized it was his long time friend, Selphie.

"Selph long time, no see!" he said as he gave her the biggest hug he could give.

"Wow, you sure changed a lot!" he said as he set her back down on two feet. "Speak for yourself, Irvine!" she said as she pushed him slightly on the shoulder. "Well, well…" the cowboy replied while exemplifying his trench coat. Selphie stole his hat and teased him.

"Those two sure are getting along great." Zell said as he was bitterly comforting Seifer as he soothed his wounded toe.

"Dammit Quis!" Seifer yelled behind Quistis's back. She spun around and raised an eyebrow at him which made him cower and say, "Sorry babe, sorry…" Zell laughed his ass off when he heard the sudden change in tone of voice.

"What are you laughing about chickewuss?!" he yelled while giving him a smack on the head. "Well, at least some of us have better chances of getting laid." Zell said as he scratched his head and pointed to Irvine, who was currently playing with Selphie. "Yeah… that lucky ass cowboy."

"I think it comes with the hat."

* * *

**Damn I sure wish Rinoa'd wake up soon, I think she might be having nightmares, but I'm not allowed to wake her up. Stupid doctor! **Squall thought to himself as he went down the hallway back to Rinoa's room.

"She should be still asleep now, because if she woke now, she'd be dizzy." He whispered as he turned the corner and went into Rinoa's room. It was quiet inside, and being as sharp as he is, he saw that there wasn't any dextrose there. **Where's she now?! **

He spun around the room thinking she went and hid under the curtains or fell off the bed or went to the bathroom. "Why does she always make look for her?" he muttered as he clutched his head.

Squall sat on the bed beside the window and looked outside. "I'm getting pretty tired of this, and I, I mean we, missed class for this." He said as he shook his head.

He lay down on the bed for a while and decided to look for his girlfriend. "Well I am going to look for her," he said to himself, "only I am too tired for this. It's always like this, a hide and seek game."

Then he sat up on the bed and glanced at Rinoa's bed. **She fell. Shoot, do I see blood?!** He thought as he saw red marks on the carpeted floor. "What happened to her?!" he said in sheer frustration.

He then rushed out the door and headed right to the main hall. **Where is she? If she's bleeding, then it'll be bad! She hasn't recovered much blood from her endeavor last night. **"This is getting really, really annoying." He said as he asked one of the maids if they saw Rinoa.

"No sir, we didn't see her nor did we hear her approach." One of the maids replied and then went to back to what they were doing. Squall ran again this time double backing to where he was and went straight. "I swear if I marry Rinoa, I would choose to live in a small house!" he breathed as he saw Sebastian. "SEBASTIAN!"

The French make-up artist dropped his keys due to being shocked. "Vat iz ze matter messieurs?" he asked.

"Have… you…. Seen Rinoa?!" he said panting. "No I haven't. Try ze cortyarrd." He thanked him and went down. **I better check the room again, she might've returned. **

Squall then went back to her room and found no one there. "Now to the courtyard." **I am getting exhausted… because of Rinoa again! And I haven't even done it with her! WHY?!**

As Squall opened the bedroom door he said, "I didn't even give a damn for anybody before!" Frustrated even more, the young Prince went to the one place he hasn't checked yet.

"Since she's weak, I don't think she'd be able to go far… what more if she went to the courtyard?" he said to himself as he had a moment in the hallway. "I'll go…" he swayed his index finger left and right and finally pointed. "Left." He said as he started to walk to the left wing. **I wonder if she went into one of these rooms.** He thought as he saw the long line of vacant bedroom doors.

**Hyne if I check all of these I'll be 80 years old before I finish.** "Where could she be?" he muttered as he started to walk, his face sickening in the grueling process of checking all the rooms. He was about to open the 5th door on his left when he saw a white heap on the floor. **What the heck?! They left the dirty laundry on the floor?!**

He approached it, taking precaution because the last time he checked out something like this, a dog lashed out on him. **Last time I checked something like this, Ellone's late puppy lashed out on me! **He approached it, tiptoeing on the process. He moved it with his foot before realizing it wasn't just a heap of dirty laundry.

"Fuck! It's Rinoa!" he quickly scooped her in his arms and ran to her room. **This is just great it's not a puppy, it's my girlfriend!**

**

* * *

**

Selphie didn't let go of Irvine's hands as she told him how she ended up in the school. "I took the exam for Political Science here and in Trabia Sciences," she said while fidgeting in her seat. "But I failed the exams, both of them, miserably." Irvine laughed. "You taking up Political Science?" he said while trying to catch his breath from laughing.

"You can't even pass 8th grade History!" Selphie pouted and retorted, "HEY! I told you not to bring up such things! They respect me now!" the cowboy snorted then said, "Respect? More like pitied!" Selphie stuck her tongue out and stormed away. Irvine being the softy he is, stopped her and told her it was only a joke. "It's a joke! J-O-K-E!"

"Look at those two," Zell said from the other side of the room. "They're as close as siblings!" Seifer turned his head towards the other side and laughed. "Well, if they are, they look nothing alike." Then he stood up to approach Quistis.

"Babe, if you ain't coming with me this morning, can I make it up to you with dinner?"

"Wow, he finally mustered up the courage." Zell thought.

"No." the tall blonde said. "No, not just dinner… Dinner is nothing compared to what an ass you are today." Then she went to talk to the women on the other side of the room.

"Have you found her yet?" she asked one of the women near the computers.

"No, we're still searching." She breathed in deep and said, "Okay, let me know if there are any hits."

Seifer took notice and went to her and asked, "Who's missing, babe?" Quitis looked at him and said, "Rinoa, again."

At that exact moment Seifer's phone vibrated. "Oh, I got a call," he said looking at his phone. "It's Capt. Puberty; I better take this, excuse me." He said as he went to a quiet corner and talked.

"Yo! Seifer here." While the conversation lasted, Seifer's expression turned from shocked, to relaxed, then to angry, then back to being normal.

"Okay, okay… use your name if you must. See yah, man." Then he snapped his phone close and went back to Quistis. She raised an eyebrow at him and asked who it was.

"It was Squall." Quistis nodded and asked if he mentioned anything about Rinoa. "Yeah, he did. He said Rinoa and him won't be coming to school today." Seifer explained briefly. Quistis halted all the searches being conducted and asked in outrage,

"WHY NOT?! IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF CLASSES!" Seifer's eyes became huge and he looked like he was about to pee his pants. Everyone else in the room bore the same look of terror on their faces.

"Uh… Squall said," he said in almost a whisper. "That Rinoa is in his care, she was in an ambush last night and has lost a lot of blood, and thus she can't come to school." Quistis had her eyebrows raised, and Seifer can feel the back of his burning from all the stares of the women in the room. "What?" Quistis muttered in sheer shock. "What happened?"

Seifer explained what Squall told him and by the end of his, rather short, story everyone in the room looked worried as heck. "Oh no, poor Rinoa!" one of the freshmen said. "She just came out of the hospital!" another one exclaimed. "Why is she so unlucky?"

"When will she come back?"

"Why is it Squall always finds her first?"

"Who do you suppose did it?" and a couple more questions floated in the air that Quistis got pissed.

"Will you all please quiet down!" she yelled.

"Please! Your murmuring will not help ease the situation."

Selphie was nearing tears as she approached Quistis's side. "I'm sorry; I was supposed to keep an eye out for her." Quistis just shook her head and said, "It's nobody's fault."

* * *

Squall carried Rinoa back to her room and laid her on the bed. He looked for the detached dextrose tube and placed it back. She was looking paler than usual because of the severe blood loss and the bruises on her face makes her more ghostly. Squall gently swept her hair away from her face to gaze at her bruised and ruined face. He then touched the yellowish bruise on her right cheek which made him draw back, because he imagined how that bruise was made. Rinoa, as if feeling his presence, moaned. Squall then looked her intently, trying to figure out what she wanted, when her eyes suddenly fluttered open. She then looked at him and then smiled.

"I was scared." She said in a weak voice. "So I went to look for you."

"I know, I'm sorry I left you." Squall responded as he stroked her hair. "Hush now, I'm here I won't leave." Rinoa then closed her eyes and held Squall's hand against her forehead with her free hand.

"Keep it there; I like it when someone touches my forehead when I sleep."

Then she smiled, but she also winced because of the pain it causes when she does. Squall felt sorry for Rinoa and decided to stay there for the remainder of the day.

"I won't leave you I promise."

* * *

Meanwhile, Keena was intently staring at the hair strands in front of her. "Why am I so obsessed with killing this bitch?" she breathed as she clutched the strands and watched them crumble. They were so fragile from being tanned under the sun. "Well seems like I have made them brittle, I wonder," she said as she looked up at the sun, "if she'll be brittle if I drenched her with sunlight too?"

She then looked up and checked the time; it was already 7:45am. _Hmm, I have class in 15minutes, I guess I should go. _"I wouldn't want to keep the professor waiting," she snorted as she gathered up her things and stood up, "waiting to tell us that classes have been cancelled due to a discovery they have made in Burglar Burgers counter top." She then gave a mischievous laugh then exited her room.

"So Celine, you have Algebra too?" a frosh asked the tall brunette.

"Yeah but I don't think we'll be classmates." She replied almost in a whisper as she heard footsteps descending the stairs behind her. "Well, I better go now. See yah!"

The tall brunette went to join her usual clique, led by none other than Keena. No one could contain them, not even the sorority president. They are free to do whatever they want to do, because they have the authority to do so, and thus the reason they chose to join this sorority.

Keena gave a sharp glance at the frosh at the other side of the room and they immediately looked the other way. She then looked at her posse and laughed. "Damn, imagine that." Her friends laughed with her as they opened the door for their "leader".

They were part of a small contingency of the people who graduated from Esthar High, and because of this, they feel as though they are superior. They went to their respective rooms for Algebra and they stared, anyone who tried to smile or even look at them, down. _They think I would just let them be nice to me, a queen? _She thought.

"Now, where is my room?" she said.

"Keena I think it's this way." a frosh from Zeta Phi said. Keena just smiled and thanked the girl.

_That was a rhetorical question, and why was she eavesdropping on us?!_

"Hey Keena!"

Keena spun around to see who the person was and when she did she accidentally bumped into a short brunette with fly away hair. "So sorry!" the brunette said. Keena just stared at her and waved her off as she looked for the person that called her.

"Hey hun, it's me." The guy said while approaching her. Keena just raised her eyebrow at him and was about to ask him who he was when he said, "Roger… Roger Covet." She got shocked at she realized that the tall, built, dark and handsome guy was her ex-bed-playmate.

He wore a black faded shirt and some butt hugging denims which he paired with a pair of black Chucks and a couple of chains. His face was of that a rock star only cleaner. His hair was chopped off to a clean cut and had a couple of piercings on the nose and eyebrows. He looked like a bad boy but hot.

"Hey Rog'!" Keena said as she tapped his shoulder. "Nice to see you again." She said as she examined the changes.

"Nice to see you too, Kee." He said as he walked and beckoned Keena to walk with him. "I see you chose Esthar U too."

"Obviously." She replied nonchalantly as she noticed that most of the people in the hallway stared at the eye catching couple. Keena was then self conscious and asked herself if the clothes she was wearing were ugly. She was wearing a blue halter top, skinny jeans and a pair of 4in stiletto heels. Her hair was clipped messily at the back but it suited her well. She was hot indeed.

"Wow Kee, you sure are hot." Roger said as they went to the far end of the hallway and turned left. "Well, if I say so myself, you look different too, Rog'" she said.

"You look better. I like it." Then she wrapped her arm on his and walked to her classroom. "Why don't we get back together?" she said with an evil smirk.

_I could actually use you._

_

* * *

_

_A/N: How did you find my chapter? I almost got abducted by mice while writing this, R &R :)_


	20. Steamy Night

_A/N: here's the 20th chapter. it's focused on the two protagonists........ just read XD enjoy :) changed the rating to mature btw XD_

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_Chapter 20_

_Steamy Hour_

Rinoa woke up seeing Squall sitting on the other bed with his head lolling on his right shoulder. She tried to sit up and when she found that she was stable, she tried to sit on the right side of her bed, facing Squall. She tilted her head to the side and stared at him with pained eyes. She saw that he had dark circles under his eyes and was looking extremely unhealthy than he was a month ago. Rinoa frowned as she saw his figure. He was depressing to look at, and Rinoa knew that she caused this. She tried to reach him with her good arm and caress his face, but alas, he was out of her current reach. She took off the IV cord and the dextrose, so that she'd be able to reach him. She gasped as she pulled them off, but recovered quickly as she went to kneel in front of Squall. She then touched his face and swept his hair out of his face. He looked so tired, but despite that, he looked happy.

He suddenly swayed and Rinoa was so shocked, that she drew her hand back. The moment she did, he fell to the bed. Rinoa smiled as she saw him fall and didn't even waver from his sleep. She lifted his legs and placed them on the bed too. She also placed his head on the pillow and finally sat beside him. The bed squeaked a bit as she sat down, but still Squall remained asleep. By the looks of him he was extremely tired and is in lack of sleep. She caressed his face again and this time she gave him a kiss on the forehead. Finally, he stirred. His eyes fluttered open and saw Rinoa leaning over him. He was shocked at first but after a while his tired face's lips broke a smile. She smiled at him too, leaning again to give him a kiss on the lips. He returned the favor, this time he held her in place. Holding her head and back, he didn't want her to leave or change position. She giggled a little as he started to kiss her sensitive neck and stroked her hair. She begun to stroke his hair too, pulling them a little harder as she felt spasms of pleasure from his balmy kiss. Little by little, Squall's breathing became ragged and this cued Rinoa, to subconsciously, get rid of his shirt.

He allowed her to strip him topless. He also didn't want to be the pinned to the bed, that's why he shifted his position to his side, putting both Rinoa and him on their sides and facing each other. Rinoa laughed as he lifted her and put her on her side and slid off her huge shirt, leaving her with nothing but underwear on. This time, instead of frowning and protesting, she unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his jeans. He took a break from kissing her and let her take off his clothes, completely. She chuckled as she finally got rid of his jeans and left him wearing only boxers. He raised his eyebrows at her while crawling up from the edge of the bed and teasing her. She laughed and turned around as he lunged at her, teeth bare; he bit her bra and unclasped it with his tongue. Hearing her yelp a little from he attacked, he chuckled and coaxed her to remove her arms from her chest. She didn't oblige, thus making him "angry". He then raised an eyebrow at Rinoa, who was now shaking her head while wearing a childish expression. He loved the way she looked and made him want to lunge at her again; he did.

This time he used his teeth to pull her bra off and she was so flustered because she was now topless as well. He smirked as a sign of triumph and spit her bra to the floor, she tried to inch away from him, forgetting that they were near the edge; she fell to the floor laughing. He was startled and panicked that he went to see if she got hurt, she took this chance to pull him to the floor, but he was too strong that she was the one to be pulled back on the bed. This time he positioned her in the middle of the bed and pinned her there. She won't stop giggling and Squall found it annoying, since he was really trying to scare her. He held both her wrists up her head and kissed her on the forehead to stop her from giggling. He kissed her on the forehead to her nose, then to her lips, then her neck then back up her ears. He then whispered something, she blushed but she nodded her head. This was his cue; he started to French kiss her again and then went down on her. From her lips he went down to her neck then to her chest, pausing as he ogled at her bosom and then smiled at her. She went beet red and covered her face, this made him chuckle again. He then began to fondle with her breasts, first with his hands. He touched, caressed, juggled and then squeezed on them hard, which made Rinoa moan. He thought it was sexy thus he repeated, and squeezed as hard as he can. This made her go crazy and he loved it. He then smiled and repeated the same process, using his mouth. He kissed her chest then went to her nipples then sucked. He sucked so hard that she actually had to grip his hair, and when she did, he bit on it. It was painful but she didn't mind.

He then continued to travel, using only his hands to her panties. She was still covering her beet red face, and just breathed in deep. It was his permission to whatever he wanted with her. He went back up to her face and kissed her, deep. She was frivolously returning his kiss that he himself went into frenzy. He regained his control and as his tongue probed her mouth, his fingers probed her lips. A gasp escaped her mouth as he inserted another inside and thrust them to the depths of her cave. She was able to break loose from his kiss to try and look at what he was doing. She shot him a "What-Are-You-Doing" look but he waved it off and pushed her backwards, back to the bed and kissed her. She was protesting in his mouth but instead of listening he inserted another, making it a lot more pleasurable for her. She couldn't contain her moans any longer that Squall allowed her to moan as loud as she could. He then removed his fingers and licked them. He looked at her face and saw that she was flustered and that her breathing was as ragged as his. He smiled at her and she did too.

He then lifted her legs and placed them on top of his shoulders. Her breathing was starting to become level again, but then suddenly she felt something wet on her genitals. As she hoisted herself to see what it was, she was pushed back down by Squall's arms. She then shuddered as he licked and sucked her clit. It drove her crazy; she started to massage his head but he didn't mind, since he was too busy thrusting his tongue in and out of her. He laid his tongue flat which triggered her legs to lock him there. They clasped his neck making him go wide eyed. He then removed his hands from her shoulders and went to separate her thighs. He then looked her in the eye and smirked. She laughed as she used her foot to push him to the edge of the bed. His look changed from smug to nervous as she took over the wheel. She crawled towards him and pinned him down. She then smiled devilishly as she licked her lips and started to kiss him all over. She licked, smacked and sucked at his neck, ears and nipples. She gave his nipples one nice tweak and left a bite mark on his right chest. Then she went to remove his boxers to reveal a very erect shaft. Her grin widened as she started to give him a hand job. She used both her hands alternately slowing and hastening up in the process. She gave it a little lick as she rigorously moved her hands up and down. Squall tried to look at what was happening but he was too weak to even hoist himself up.

Rinoa took notice of this and thought that it was her cue to give him a full blow job. She took him in whole and her head started bobbing up and down. Lick and suck was her strategy as she continued to blow his minds out. He started to moan, louder and louder as she hastened up her strategies, but she was no novice. She knew when exactly to slow down or to hasten up, thus not making him cum with just a blow job. She took in one deep breath and went to kiss Squall, to let him taste his own "medicine". His eyes were now deep blue as he was feeling nothing but pure pleasure. Rinoa's eyes were golden brown too, as she was also in deep pleasure. She heard him moan as she bit her on the neck and she giggled as she repeated it again. He grabbed her head and kissed her, just to make her stop biting. She gasped for air as he finally let her head go. She raised an eyebrow at him and gave him a smug look. Diving back in the game, she took him fully; going deep throat as she caressed his balls.

He wasn't able to take it anymore, the sweet torture she was giving him by eating him whole. Gently, he lifted her face to his and kissed her, pushing her back in the process. They returned to their original positions; him above and her below. Her eyes widened as she felt his hardness on her stomach and closed her eyes for she knew what's going to happen next. He noticed this and stopped his kissing to prepare to enter her. His eyes traveled from left to right, as though searching for something and as he found what he was looking for, he left Rinoa alone on the bed. She opened her eyes as she felt him leave and looked at him with a "What-Gives-?" look. He just smiled at her while holding his wallet and showed her a small packet. She understood what it was and let him carry on.

After the small intermission, he continued with what he was doing. He kissed her again all over, licking and sucking all over then finally, he directed the head towards her wet entrance. She suddenly sat up and clasped her hands on his back as he gave it one powerful thrust. She clung to him, clawing his back in the process, but he didn't mind as he continued to rock his hips in time with his breathing. As his breathing became ragged, his thrusts became quicker and rougher. This drove her crazy that she almost came, but he told her to hold it in, because he was also nearing. After a few more thrusts and moans he finally came, letting out a low growl in the process; she, on the other hand, threw her head back and finally let it all flow out. They both collapsed on the bed as they finished their game. He pulled the covers on both of them and they both fell asleep in each others arms.

* * *

_A/N: uh i let them do it. tell me what you think. :) hope you enjoyed it. xD_


	21. New and Old

_A/N: sorry it took so long! LOL anyway here's the 21st chapter :) _

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Chapter 21

**_New and Old_**

Squall woke up facing the bed post and groaned. He didn't want to wake on dawn, in fact he hated it. He checked his watch and it was only 4am. Rubbing his eyes, he tried to shift to his left side and heard a faint moan from behind. He immediately looked behind him, thinking he fell asleep in the wrong room. He was mildly shocked to find Rinoa there. As he went to take a closer look he came to find that she was nude. **What the—**

It was then when his brain jumpstarted and he was able to recall what happened the night before. A smile spread across his face when he covered her up with the blankets. She looked like an angel and Hyne knows he didn't wanna leave her side, but he had to attend to his car's "blood" problem. He sat up on the edge of the bed and then finally stood up to wash his face in the bathroom, only to find out his usual toiletries weren't there. He shook his head and looked for his clothes, which were all stacked on the bottom of the bed. He quickly wore them and waited for the locks to be lifted from the doors.

The doors wouldn't be unlocked in another hour so he went to sit on the love seat beside the door. But he decided that it's too tedious to just bum around on the couch and he fears he'll fall asleep again. So he stood up and went to the window. He stared outside and saw a shooting star; he laughed recalling what Rinoa did when she saw one that fateful summer night. He laughed heartily and then he heard the lock lift from the doors.

He went out and headed for his room. Once in he fixed himself and decided to grab some breakfast. As he approached the Master's bedroom door on is way to the kitchen, it suddenly opened and Laguna came out. Squall just gave him a stare and asked where he was heading. "I'm heading to the kitchens, I'm starving." He said.

Squall just continued on his way and said, "I'll see you in the kitchens."

"Wait son! I need to tell you something." Laguna called after his son in an attempt to stop him in his tracks. Squall spun around and released a yawn. He then cocked an eyebrow at his father and asked, "What?" ever so flatly.

"I'll show you some pictures; I bet you don't even remember." Squall gave his father a perplexed look but followed him nonetheless. They both went into the Master's bedroom; Laguna went to collect the albums from the top of his huge dresser. **I wonder what photos he's going to show me, I don't even have time for this.**

"AH! Here it is!" Laguna exclaimed from the dresser, and went out with a rather old looking album.

Squall watched his father intently as the man frantically searched through a swarm of photos. When he finally stopped on a page he quickly called Squall to his side and showed him the picture.

At first, Squall just stared and asked what the relevance of this was. "What exactly am I supposed to be looking at? It's just me playing in the rain with a couple of kids from kindergarten."

Laguna smiled widely and said, "Look closely at who you are playing with." He pointed to the little boy that the tiny Squall was playing with. Squall looked at the picture again, lifting the album in the process to see clearly who the little boy was. "It's just a little boy I played with randomly in the playground, what's the big—"he said, but he was cut off in midsentence with his father by pointing to the little boy's name tag.

"Look closely on the name tag!" Laguna said. Squall took the album again and read, "Rinoa" on the name tag of the little boy. "What's the big deal dad? It's just a coincidence that that little boy carries the same name as Rinoa."

Laguna shook his head and laughed. "It's no coincidence! It is Rinoa! That little boy was a little girl that studied in Deling and was on a field trip on Esthar." He said.

"Look at the back right there," he said while pointing on the picture. "That's Cecile Heartily right?"

Squall just nodded as he noticed the uncanny resemblance of the woman in the picture to Rinoa's aunt. "I don't believe it."

"Well believe it! Ellone took this photo and I recall her telling me that you won't let go of this little girl's hands!" he beamed as he watched Squall took the album again and stared at the photo.

"How did you come across this?" he asked his father. Laguna explained that one time he was looking for his crocodile skin loafers that album fell on his head and opened on that exact page. He took the time to look at the photo and research on it as he saw the name "Rinoa" on the little girl's nametag.

"So…you mean to say me and her are friends from before?" Squall asked.

"Yes, I bet Cecile just forgot, but I think she knows. Anyway, we might wanna eat before we discuss anymore of this." Laguna suggested as he ripped the photo from the album and gave it to Squall. "You keep it, it's yours, show it to her sometime."

And with that he kept the album and opened the door for Squall and they both headed down the kitchen to eat.

* * *

Rinoa awoke alone in the huge familiar room. She took a couple of seconds to gain complete composure and it was then when she remembered the events that took place a couple of hours ago. A smile found its way to her small lips and then she let out a tiny laugh.

"Squall's not here." She muttered to herself as she scanned the place, "I guess he must be out." Rinoa tried to sit up and then she felt soreness… all over.

_Gaah I feel like I just had cheerleading practice for 6hrs straight! _"Dammit." She said as she gathered the covers and wrapped it on herself.

"I wonder where all my clothes are." She muttered as she held a finger to her lips.

She then stood up from the really comfy bed and went to search for her missing garments. She found her brassiere on the bottom of the side table, her panties on the far edge of the bed and her shirt… her shirt was hanging on the frame of a painting, a meter away from her. She laughed as she carried all her garments and went to the bathroom to wash off. Her hair was all tangled up; it was the result of not washing it for two days.

She went into the bathroom and set her things on the counter, as she did; she glanced at the mirror and saw that her bruise had turned from reddish brown to purple. It was bad.

_Crap, how am I supposed to go to school tomorrow? _She contemplated in front of the mirror and then realized and suddenly yelled, "DAMN! SCHOOL!"

She then had a bad realization of how she's going to explain herself to her "sisters" and how will she go to her classes with her looking like she just went through a boxing fight against Holyfield?

_I need to heal this…. But I don't think Curaga will be able to fix this since it's not an open wound. _She shook her head and decided she'll just have to live with it for the next weeks. Heaving in a big sigh, she went and showered.

Once done, she went outside the bathroom; her hair was all seaweed like but not anymore tangled with filth. She went to sit on the bed and think about the incident Squall rescued her from and who would do that to her. She contemplated on it for a long time, all while staring into nothing. She was roused from her thinking when a sudden knock on the door was heard.

"Rin?" a voice on the other side could be heard, and as if she expected it, his familiar face turned up from the open door.

Her head jerked up and shot straight to the door's direction as if a little girl caught talking to her dollies. "Oh good, you're awake." He said as he went inside the room.

"Are you okay?" he asked tentatively as he saw the bruise on her face. She nodded once and then smiled at him. "I am starving though." Then she gave him a nudge and asked him to feed her.

"I didn't know you were able to act this way." Squall complained as he threw the clothes to her. "There. Wear those; they came from Ellone." He told her. "And hurry up, we have to get back to campus now, or else they'll think we're delinquents."

Rinoa took the pile of clothes thrown on her lap and went into the bathroom. **I don't know why she needs to go inside the bathroom just to change; I've already seen everything anyways. **He thought as he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms on his chest.

"Sorry." She said as she got out of the bathroom looking rather normal for a person who just got beaten up and "battered" on the same day. "Do I look okay?" she asked Squall, who was currently staring out the window. "Squall?" she asked again as if he didn't hear her.

"Yep?" he said finally turning around. "What did you say?"

"I said, do I look okay in this ensemble?" she muttered the last few words to her feet. Ellone gave her a plain blue tank top and some ragged looking jeans, she looked normal.

"Yeah you look fine," Squall finally said. "You just need to cover up that bruise and you'll look even better." He then threw her some flip flops and went out of the door. "I'll ready the car." He called back to her.

The flustered Rinoa went back to the bathroom for one last glance in the mirror. "Ungh." She muttered to her reflection and finally went out of the bathroom and room. She then hurried her steps to go to the main entrance.

There she found Ellone talking with some maids; she seems to be asking them a favor. Rinoa thought she'd thank her but decided not to because she looked really busy. But as soon as Rinoa reached the bottom of the stairs, Ellone came to talk to her.

"So, I think blue really is your color." Ellone whispered to her ear as she indicated the clothes. "How're you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm okay now—thank you for asking." She added. "My bruise still hurts a bit but other than that, I am all good."

"Good, good." She muttered to herself as she turned off the alarm on her PDA. "Look 'Noa, I think you'll be late if you don't go now."

"Yeah!" she suddenly gasped as she saw the clock on the 2nd floor balcony. "I better go!" and with that she ran flat out to the door. As she pushed the double doors open, she called out to Ellone: "Thanks for the clothes, by the way!" Ellone just waved and smiled at her, like on cue or something, Squall honked at her.

"Hey! Do you wanna grow old there?" he yelled through the Ferrari's window. Rinoa then went down the last set of steps and went to the right of the vehicle. "I thought you didn't wanna leave there anymore."

"I didn't." then she smiled to herself.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Iota house, Quistis was currently debating with Selphie about going out that Saturday night.

"But Quis, I really wanna go out on Saturday night!" the brunette protested as she dogged the blonde, who was currently busy trying to locate her missing PDA.

"Look Selph—" she stopped her line as she stopped walking and stared at something.

"Why? What is it?" Selphie asked the stupefied Quistis. "Did you find it?"

"No, but I did find these." The blonde held up a pair of blue suede shoes to Selphie and raised her eyebrows. "Who wears **these** nowadays?!" she suddenly blurted out and laughed. The brunette laughed too as she saw the shoes. "That's just mean Quisty! But truthfully, I don't know who those shoes belong to."

Quistis shrugged it off and threw the fugly shoes to the closet nearest to her. "Might as well bury it in a closet… it's like an artifact. Anyway," she continued. "What I was about to say, before I was interrupted by a fashion faux pas, was… I'll make you a deal."

"What deal? You don't want me to kill someone for you because I'd rather just stay home then… although… I miss using my nunchucks." Selphie said thoughtfully.

"You use nunchucks? I use a whip!" the blonde said as she smiled widely upon hearing that a sister of theirs was a weapon wielder as well. "But, not swaying from my original topic," she cleared her throat. "We'll go out on Saturday night,"

The brunette cheered and danced but Quistis was fast enough to raise her hand to stop her. "In one condition," she continued. "You have to search for my PDA too." Then she smiled. "Because, my schedule for tomorrow is wretched and I need my PDA to survive!" Selphie laughed at her and nodded.

"Sure I'll look for your PDA, oh and by the way Quisty,"

"Yep?"

"Squall rang a couple of hours ago and he requests that you help him with something once he's here… and Rinoa needs help too."

"Oh. Okay." _I wonder why they need my help now, I haven't seen those two in two days now._

* * *

"Hey Rin, wake up, we're here."

Squall gently tapped Rinoa's arm to wake her up from her nap. **She can't possibly be that tired, I mean c'mon.**

"Rin?" he asked again this time trying to make her hear the words. Her eyes fluttered open and stared blankly at Squall. _I just can't get over those damn eyes. _

"Um, you okay there Rin?" Squall asked again as he reached down to her seatbelt and unbuckled her. "Oh!"

"So sorry! I thought I was dreaming…anyway, where are we?" She asked suddenly aware that her face is beat red and that the surroundings were all dark. Squall smiled at her and said, "we're at the, umm, Gamma's garage."

"What? Why didn't you bring me back to the Iota house first, I mean I think I might be able to get to my class! I don't I mean I did miss all three days of class because of this!" she then pointed to her face and went to out of the car only to stumble back in. "What the hell!" she exclaimed.

"Rinoa, calm down." He said as he opened the lights and revealed to Rinoa, a garage full of bikes and cars. "And by the way, you knocked over Zell's bike." He said as he indicated the Ducati Superbike that was now on the verge of falling. He reached across Rinoa and stood the bike up. "Whew, I almost got my ass kicked." Then he smiled.

Rinoa was in a state of shock. "Oh… um…" Squall put his arm around her and led her outside. "Don't worry about it. C'mon, I'll walk you to the Iota's."

As they walked to the garage door, a booming voice could be heard from inside of the house. "What do you say? Squall's back?! Where is that da—SQUALL! THERE YOU ARE!" Seifer called out the window. "YOU MISSED AN EFFING LOT! HEY HEY, COME BACK HERE!" Seifer was yelling atop his lungs as he rushed to get to Squall.

Squall laughed and said, "I'll be back to explain in a few minutes, I'll just take Rinoa back to her dorm."

"YOU BETTER COME BACK!" Seifer called back as he shook his head. "Damn Irv, I hate him when he's like that."

"Well, it's better than the usual a-hole he is when he was single."

* * *

The weather was all nice for a walk that day and as Rinoa and Squall walked people kept staring at them. "Um… Why are they staring?" Rinoa whispered as they walked pass a clique of girls who all whispered together. "Hmm? I don't know. Maybe they're jealous of you."

Rinoa rolled her eyes and sighed. "Something's not right with our relationship." She said. Squall cocked an eyebrow at her and asked, "And what would that part be?"

"You being the so-called "prince of Esthar", me being the new girl in town and the idea of us being together, don't you think it's wrong?" She asked. "Do you think it is weird?" Squall answered her back with a question. "Yeah I do,"

"Well, for one, they shouldn't give a damn who I choose to be my girlfriend, another…" he stopped his tracks then and heaved in a big sigh, "You're my friend beforehand."

Rinoa stopped too. "Wait, I'm confused, friend beforehand? I don't recall ever meeting you before that day on the airplane."

Squall just chuckled and said nothing; instead he shook his head and led Rinoa to her dorm.

* * *

On the way there, Rinoa kept on bugging Squall about what he said. "C'mon you don't plan on hiding this for long now do you?" she asked for the nth time. "You can just tell me! I mean I am not good at guessing or at predetermination, as you can see!" she said and she pointed to her bruised cheek.

Squall just laughed and said, "We're here Rinoa save your questions for some other time I'll see you in English." Then he gave her a peck on the lips and gave her a small push to get her walking to the door.

_That idiot I wonder why he won't tell me shizz._

Rinoa knocked twice and hurried footsteps can be heard through the door. "OMG, I think it's Rinoa!" someone from the behind the door said.

"Shhh!"

Rinoa cocked an eyebrow and fixed her shirt, as the sisters inside finally decided to let her in. "Hello." She said flatly while eyeing them suspiciously.

"Rinoa!" someone from the staircase could be heard. "OMG, how are you… OMG! What happened to your face?! My Hyne! We have to get you fixed up! I mean class starts in 20mins!" Rinoa tried her hardest to stop Selphie from jumping up and down and trying to decide what color concealer should she put on her.

"Selphie! Calm down! I'm okay now… I just need to get my things!"

"Oh yeah! Sorry bout that I was just excited to see you, I was really worried!" Selphie smiled goofily and Rinoa just laughed. "I'm fine, really, thanks Selph."

Rinoa went her way to her room, when she was stopped again by none other than Selphie. "Oh! Oh! Oh! Quistis wants to see you, I don't know why but she's in her dorm room."

*gulps*

Rinoa continued to ascend the stairs and went to the last room in the 2nd floor. "I wonder what she needs… I'm nervous!"

Shaking a little, she opened the door to reveal a huge pink room with a lot of trophies and medals everywhere; there are also sashes and crowns everywhere. _She really is popular!_ Rinoa thought as she went to the, kind of an out of place desk with a huge chair, which was currently facing the window. _Oh Hyne, here we go._

Rinoa cleared her throat to announce her arrival. "Are you okay now?" the person behind the chair asked without turning the chair to face Rinoa.

"Um, yes… look Quis, I'm sorry to worry you but… err… I have no explanation." Rinoa was fidgeting like a kid confessing a crime to her mom.

"I'm not asking if you have." Then she turned to face Rinoa, Quistis looked stunning as ever. "I called you here just to know if you were okay, I didn't want to have any concerned parent seizing my sorority because of something like this."

"I am not blaming you." Quistis said as she raised a hand to stop Rinoa from talking. "I am just concerned about the others, I mean it's hard for them to get into the Uni alone, what more to this prestigious sorority."

She cleared her throat. "I know you have class in 10mins and I assure you, you'll make it on time." She then removed her eye glasses and said, "On a more, serious, serious note," she lifted a piece of paper containing a single strand of blonde hair. "This was found by our Investigative Journalism major sister, Annie Stratford, at the scene of the—" She was caught in midsentence but continued nonetheless. "Mishap."

Rinoa then tried to speak but found no words, Quistis finally smiled and said, "We'll get her soon Rinoa, we'll just need to analyze this hair sample and pin the crime on her… do you even remember anything from then?" she suddenly asked.

This time Rinoa, shook her head and said, "I still can't remember anything…even if I try to."

"It's okay… Squall knows about this latest update and he says if ever we identify the person who did this to you, he'll set the whole Presidential Guard on them."

"I don't think that would be necessary! That's just too much!" Rinoa protested as she raised her hands to stop this "abuse-of-power".

Quistis smiled and chuckled at her. "That's what you get when you have a 'Prince' as your boyfriend."

Rinoa started to laugh with Quistis when the blonde stopped her and said, "You have 5 minutes before your next class, you better start running."

* * *

As if jolted with thunder, Rinoa jumped from her position and hurried to her room and get her bag.

_Oh there it is! _She thought as she saw it atop her very neat bed. _I haven't even slept there yet! _

Then she flew down the stairs, feet barely touching the steps, and there she saw Selphie.

"HEY! We don't wanna be late! Professor Krumps was absent for the past 2 meetings and she says we better be there for the 3rd!" she said as she pulled Rinoa by the wrist and ran as fast as they can to the all-glass building to their English class.

They ran flat out, jumping over rocks and benches and bumping into almost everyone that was on their way. Panting, Selphie pressed the 3rd floor classroom and after a few seconds the doors opened to the huge classroom.

The room was already half filled with all the freshmen that were currently taking general classes. People of all kinds of courses and walks were there. From where she and Selphie were standing, everybody else had their back against them. Students were mingling with their fellow sorority, fraternity, or both, members. It looked like the professor was not there yet and paper planes started taking off from the back row. Rinoa walked with Selphie to find a good spot, as she looked around she suddenly thought if the person that hurt her was here. She was caught in her steps when she saw a blonde who was talking to her girlfriends on the other end of the room. But she just shook her head and went on.

_Wonder if the others are here waiting for us. _

She went to the last 2 seats in the same row as the girl's been intently looking at. Selphie, tripped and toppled to her seat and laughed, this woke Rinoa from her trance like state and made her giggle.

"Selphie, next time, you should be more modest!" the ebony haired woman laughed hard and sat down beside the brunette, who was blushing to the utmost height.

"I didn't mean to be this clumsy!" the brunette retorted.

"I bet you didn't," she told the brunette without looking at her. "I wonder where the others are."

As she spoke the last 2 words of her sentence the blonde from the other side of the row turned to look at them and then smirked. Rinoa found this peculiar since this time they weren't looking; instead their looking was called upon by the sudden burst of laughter from the blonde's clique.

Nonetheless, Rinoa brushed off the smirk thinking it could have been a mistake and went to talk to Selphie.

"Rinoa, I think I see them." The brunette suddenly exclaimed in the middle of their conversation, which was soup.

She shot her head up to the direction where Selphie was pointing at, to see if they found their friends. "I don't think that's them Selphie, I don't see a cowboy hat."

Selphie scratched her head and smiled at Rinoa, before she stood up, spontaneously, on the chair. "Nope! It's them Rin, see!" she said as she pointed to the bag beside the man Rinoa saw, and revealed a ten gallon hat.

"Ah there they are." Rinoa concurred as she squinted on the lights from the back of the classroom. "We better go there then." And with that they stood up from their seats and went up to sit beside Irvine and Zell.

"Hello gents!" Selphie said as she claimed a seat beside Irvine. The cowboy grinned hugely and removed his bag from the chair.

"Hey Selph, hey Rin!" Zell exclaimed from Irvine's other side. "Rin I don't think there are anymore chairs available in this row, you might wanna sit on the last row."

He gave her a wink and said, "Good seeing you!" Rinoa was about to retort when she realized that he was speaking the truth and the back row was right behind them.

Since today was the first "real" day of classes for them, the students went full force to the classroom and as a result even the students from the other section went to sit-in in their class. As a result, they were short of chairs. Only two more remain, and they were the ones on the last part of the room.

"Oh well, I guess that's my seat." Rinoa said as she rolled her eyes and went to the seat. She lifted her bag and went to sit at the far left side of the last row. She settled herself in and placed her bag on the seat beside her. "Hmm, I better save a seat for Squall—if ever." She muttered to herself.

She then got her binder and her pen. _I should've gotten the black binder instead of the blue one. _She thought as she saw her bag and pen. _Now everyone will think I'm a blue freak. Good thing they know nothing about my old school. _

She scribbled down some notes and began to write something that was supposed to be a poem, when she suddenly squinted in the light that was reflected from the keychain of one of the guys in front of her. They were so loud and Rinoa was getting pissed off.

_What is taking the professor so long?! _

She rummaged her bag to locate her iPod. _Good thing my iPod is white. _She put on her earphones and hit shuffle. She didn't care what the song was just as long as the people in the room were drowned out.

Unlike Rinoa, Selphie seemed to be enjoying herself with Zell and Irvine, laughing as though there was no tomorrow. Rinoa just shook her head and started to write. As she reached the 3rd line of her poem, Keychain Guy stood in front of the class, clearly announcing something. _I wonder what he's talking about._

Rinoa removed her earphones and went to look in Selphie's direction. The brunette was on her feet and so does the familiar blonde up front.

"She wont attend this class again?!" the blonde said.

"We've wasted 3 meetings!" another one said.

"We should just leave." Selphie said.

People could be seen nodding and saying yes. Keychain Guy was being thrown paper at, and Rinoa didn't know why. She collected her stuff and went to Irvine.

"Why are they throwing stuff at him?" she asked Irvine. Irvine was shocked to find out she was there and as a result he threw his cowboy hat on the floor. He picked it up and shook off the dirt. "Well, it's because people were passing around this attendance sheet because they wanna leave this place, since the professor is late again."

"Well, that attendance sheet came from one of his friends as a joke, and people got ticked off because they believe we have been wasting our time here." The cowboy then shrugged and got his bag. He signaled to Zell and he quickly picked up the signal and got his bag too.

Next thing Rinoa knew, they were both well on their way to the door. "We're wasting our time here! Better leave!" Zell yelled when Irvine was out of the room. Rinoa thought that a stampede would occur, so she pulled Selphie, while dragging both their bags out of the room.

"You okay?" she asked Selphie.

"Yeah I am, thanks." She replied as removed a couple of hair strands from her face. "That idiot, he was wasting our time big time! And he ticked off most of the people in the room! Including Keena!"

Rinoa looked at the others that were going out of the room when suddenly someone grabbed her wrist and forced her to look at him. "Hey, you okay?"

She recognized the voice immediately and said, "Yup, Selphie's enraged though." She pointed to Selphie and laughed. Squall looked at Selphie and laughed too. "I think she'll be fine, we better go."

He pulled her by her wrist and she tried to wriggle it out of his grasp. _Ow, ow, ow! _Squall went to look at her as she tried to pull her arm. He gave her the "What-Gives?" look and raised his eyebrows. Rinoa was getting teary eyed and really pissed when Squall finally realized that he was grasping her wound; well, used-to-be wound.

"Oh Hyne, sorry Rin." He whispered to her ear then patted her wrists. "I better take you to the infirmary."

* * *

"Next time," the kind young nurse said as she placed fresh bandages on the ebony haired girl's wrists. "Be more wary of her condition, okay dear?"

Squall nodded in response as he mouthed an "I'm sorry." to Rinoa; who was currently writhing in pain as the nurse tightened the bandages so that she may be able to tie it.

"And you," the nurse said again as she fiddled with the bandages. "You better not forget to put bandages on wounds like this."

"Comprende?" she snapped at her. Rinoa jumped a bit but regained composure as she gave her an apologetic smile. "I know you don't want to look like a LOSER during these crucial weeks of classes, but you have to remember your safety." The nurse continued as she fixed her glasses and collected her thing. She placed them on her table and sat down on the other side. "Okay, now I need you to sign here." She handed Rinoa a blue record book and a pen.

Rinoa took the book and signed, wincing in pain as she tried to write with the tight bandages on her wounds. "Thank you Nurse Swan, I promise I'll put bandages on them next time." She said as she pushed the record back to the nurse.

Nurse Swan took the book and placed the date on the page where Rinoa just signed. "What do you mean next time?" she snapped at her as she snapped the book shut. "You need to change those before your 5th period." She went to get some bandages from her cupboard and gave it to Rinoa.

Rinoa just nodded and collected the bandages that she gave her. Squall thanked the nurse and collected their things. "Next time dears, call me Nurse Swan and not Ma'am." She said jokingly as Rinoa and Squall started for the door. "Gosh, I'm not that old." Then she gave a hearty laugh and shooed them out.

"She's a nice woman." Rinoa said as she tried to loosen her bandages. Squall immediately stopped her from what she was doing.

"Yeah she is," he said as he put her arms to her sides. "That is why you need to respect what she said and follow it." Then he resumed walking to their next class, which was ALGEBRA.

Rinoa looked at her wrists one last time before she grabbed her bag from Squall and went on their way. "Hey!" he exclaimed.

"I'll be carrying these, c'mon!" she said as she ran past Squall. "We'll be late!" and with that she sprinted to their next room. Squall just shook his head and walked to her direction. He noticed a lot of people in the quadrangle were looking at them and he gives them his usual glare and they quickly went back to what they were doing. **I wonder if they ever get tired of making issues about us… we just can't be normal huh? **He thought as he passed by two junior level girls who were giggling at the scene that Rinoa made just now.

"Rin, be careful." He said as he caught up with her. "You might get hurt again."

Rinoa just smiled at him, not even panting. "I miss the workout, I used to get it everyday." She thought as she reminisced her cheerleading days. All those mornings and afternoons of training and practice…boy it was tiring but she really missed the thrill and uncanny stress it gives.

"You miss cheerleading?" Selphie asks as she joined Squall and Rinoa on the corridor.

"Hey Selph," they said in unison. The ebony haired girl smiled at the brunette as she guiltily nodded in agreement of what she just said.

"I do miss it… very much." She said in a contemplative tone.

"Why don't you start one here? I'll help." She said in a happy and excited tone.

**This could only mean…**

"Why not?!" Rinoa exclaimed as she and Selphie jumped up and down.

* * *

They immediately started making plans and have already decided on who would do the accreditation and the member gathering. They went through algebra talking about this nonstop. They didn't even stop as Rinoa was called to the board to write down the correct answer.

She was really clueless as to what they were talking about in class, being too engrossed on the new cheerleading squad. Good thing, Squall was able to slip her the correct solution and answer before she went up to the board. When she was finished the professor let her go back to her seat and called upon another student to explain the answer.

"Whew!" she whispered to Squall. "We're even." Squall just looked at her and said, "Next time, please be attentive." Then he went back to what he was doing, which was taking down notes. Selphie and Rinoa just giggled at what happened and resumed their planning.

Once class was done Squall bade goodbye to them as he went off to his next class, which was Estharian History. The two continued talking immediately after Squall gave Rinoa a smack and walked to the other side. They were so immersed in their conversation that Selphie didn't even notice that Irvine showed up and was walking right beside her. The only time she realized that he was there was when he placed his cowboy hat on her head.

"What the—Irvine!" she exclaimed as she fixed her hat to make her see. "What's your next class?" she asked him. "I've no more classes for the day." He said as he asked if he could sit in their next class.

Selphie thought of this as very thrilling and agreed. "Rinoa you can sit beside me and Irvy will sit at the back row." She suggested to Rinoa.

Rinoa just laughed and went to sit on the chair nearest her and Selphie followed soon after. They thought of the squad, and Selphie went to ask Irvine about the necessities for one's org to be accredited.

"Irvine promised to help us Rin!" she said as she gave Rinoa a white piece of paper with the requirements. "He even gave me the list!" she beamed.

"We'll get started on the Squad as soon as possible!" Rinoa exclaimed as well.

* * *

_A/N: to make or not to make LOL anyway the delay was caused by stress so yeah, anyway review it if you liked it and even if you didn't! Muah! XD _


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